The Right To Buy Process – Step By Step

There are several stages to go through when you buy your home. This explains each of those stages, will tell you what you need to do at each one and how long you can expect it to take.

Stage 1 – The Application

Firstly you must fill in and return the application form ‘Notice claiming the right to buy’ which is known as the RTB1. You will see this abbreviation on other papers you will receive from us. You can obtain the RTB1 form by :

Telephoning 01942 701971
Visiting your local area housing office(click here for locations) or a Property Shop(click here for locations)
E-mail : enquiries@walh.co.uk
Write to : Wigan & Leigh Housing, Income & Home Sales, 3 Orrell Road, Orrell, Wigan, WN5 8EW

Alternatively, you can download the application form and "Your Right to Buy your home" booklet below :

Click here(.pdf,128KB) to download the form
Click here(.pdf,615KB) to download the "Your Right to Buy your home" booklet

Return completed RTB1 application forms to :

Wigan & Leigh Housing, Income & Home Sales, 3 Orrell Road, Orrell, Wigan, WN5 8EW, or
Hand it at your local area housing office, click here for locations

Stage 2 – Eligibility Checks

When we have received and checked your application form we will acknowledge your application and start investigating if you are eligible to buy your home. When the results are known we will send you a RTB2 Notice to tell you if we can accept your application to buy or not. If we do not accept your application, we will give you the reason why on the RTB2 Notice. We will send you this Notice within four weeks if you have been a tenant with Wigan Council for at least two years. If you have not been a Wigan Council tenant for two years this Notice will take up to eight weeks to reply to you because we have to check the information on your other tenancies with your previous landlord. You should keep the RTB2 Notice in a safe place as you may need to give it to your bank or building society if you are having a mortgage.

As soon as your Right to Buy application is received any improvements or repairs that are due to be done will be cancelled (except for work required by law to keep the property weather-tight). This is because when the property is valued the valuation is based on the date your RTB application was made. Any improvements or repairs after that date would affect the valuation.

Stage 3 Valuation and Energy Performance Assessment

A letter will be sent with the RTB2 Notice providing a phone number for you to ring to arrange for the property to be valued. You must ring the valuer within fourteen days to arrange a convenient time to come and value your home.

An energy performance assessment will also be carried out on your property to assess it's energy efficiency. A member of our staff will contact you direct to arrange this(unless one has been carried out previously and their is already a valid Energy Performance Certificate available. If this is the case then no further assessment will be needed and you will receive a copy of the Energy Performance Certificate with your Section 125 Notice).

Stage 4 – Price Notice and Energy Performance Certificate

After the property has been valued and the energy performance assessment carried out we will send you the ’Landlord’s Offer Notice’, also known as the Section 125 Notice and an Energy Performance Certificate. The Section 125 Notice is one of the most important documents you will receive and you should read it carefully. This will tell you the value of the property, the purchase price to you after discount, any terms and conditions relating to the purchase of the property and structural defects noted by the valuer. The Energy Performance Certificate gives you important information about your property's energy efficiency.

The Section 125 Notice and Energy Performance Certificate will be sent to you within eight weeks of the RTB2 Notice if you are buying a house, or within 12 weeks if you are buying a flat. The Notice will also tell you what to do next.

Once you have received this Notice and you decide to go ahead you should:

begin to make arrangements for your mortgage;
have a structural survey carried out (your mortgage lender may be able to arrange this for you); and
choose a solicitor to act for you in the legal process.

Stage 5 – Your Response

You must now tell us what you are going to do next. You will have to decide if you want to:

buy your home outright under the Right to Buy;
consider appealing against the Landlord’s valuation; or
forget about buying your home and continue to pay rent.

You must reply to us within 12 weeks of receiving your Section 125 Notice, telling us what you are going to do. There is a ‘Notice of Intention’ form with the Price Notice for you to complete and return. If you don’t contact us within 12 weeks you will get a reminder. If you still don’t write within another 28 days we will withdraw your application.

If you have returned the ‘Notice of Intention’ form to us indicating that you wish to proceed with buying your home but we do not hear anything further from you or your solicitor within 12 months of the date of the Section 125 Notice, we will send you two Notices telling you to complete the sale. If you do not answer within eight weeks of the second Notice we will withdraw your application.

Stage 6 – Completing the Sale

If you decide to continue with the purchase of your home and you have still not chosen a solicitor or arranged your mortgage you should do this now. Your solicitor will be able to clear up any doubts you have about the terms of the sale or the lease (if it is a leasehold sale). Once you have told us that you are going to buy your home we will tell the Council’s solicitors to write to your solicitor. Your solicitor will contact you to discuss the details of the sale and arrange a completion date.

Generally speaking, if everything is straightforward and there are no problems, the sale will normally complete within 3 months of you notifying us that you wish to proceed with the purchase.

Please Note - Selling The Property Within 10 Years

When you have bought your home under the Right to Buy scheme if it was on or after 18 January 2005, and you wish to resell or dispose of it within 10 years of the purchase date, you will be required to offer it to either your former landlord or to another social landlord in your area at full market value. The market value must be agreed between the parties or, if they are unable to agree, will be determined by the District Valuer. If your offer hasn't been accepted within 8 weeks, you will be free to sell the property on the open market.