Right To Buy Discount: The Rules And Limits In England

The Right to Buy discount is a percentage of your home's value: 35% for a house or 50% for a flat after 3 to 5 years as a public sector tenant, rising each year after that. For applications made from 21 November 2024 it is capped at a regional maximum of £16,000 to £38,000, which for most people is far lower than the percentage.

This guide covers England. Right to Buy ended in Wales in January 2019, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules. All figures are from GOV.UK, checked on 20 October 2026.

How the percentage is worked out

• Houses: 35% after 3 to 5 years as a public sector tenant, then 1% more for each year after 5.
• Flats: 50% after 3 to 5 years, then 2% more for each year after 5.

The years do not have to be in a row, as long as the landlord was in the public sector, such as a council, housing association or NHS trust. If you are buying with someone else, the longest-serving tenant's years count.

The maximum discount since 21 November 2024

Whatever the percentage gives you, the discount cannot be more than 70% of the value or the maximum for your area, whichever is lower. For applications made from 21 November 2024, the maximums are:

• London: £16,000 (£38,000 in Barking and Dagenham, and Havering)
• South East: £38,000 (£16,000 in Reading, West Berkshire, Hart, Oxford, Vale of White Horse, Tonbridge and Malling, Epsom and Ewell, and Reigate and Banstead)
• Eastern: £34,000 (£16,000 in Watford)
• South West: £30,000
• North West: £26,000
• West Midlands: £26,000
• East Midlands: £24,000
• Yorkshire and the Humber: £24,000
• North East: £22,000

For applications made before 21 November 2024, the maximum was £136,400 in London and £102,400 elsewhere.

An example. A tenant in Leicester (East Midlands) for 10 years buys a house valued at £200,000. The percentage would be 40% (35% for the first 5 years, plus 1% for each of the next 5), which is £80,000. The East Midlands maximum is £24,000, so the discount is £24,000 and the price is £176,000, before any reduction for the landlord's spending.

What reduces the discount

• Your landlord's spending. For applications from 21 November 2024, the discount is reduced by what your landlord has spent building or maintaining the home in the last 30 years. If it has spent more than the home is now worth, there is no discount.
• Using Right to Buy before. You may get a smaller discount if you have had one before.

Your landlord's offer, sent after it accepts your RTB1 application, shows the value, your discount and how both were worked out. If you think the value is too high, you can ask for an independent valuation within 3 months of getting the offer.

Paying the discount back if you sell

If you sell within 5 years of buying, you usually pay back part of the discount, worked out on the value when you sell:

• in the first year: all of it
• in the second year: 80%
• in the third year: 60%
• in the fourth year: 40%
• in the fifth year: 20%

GOV.UK gives this example: a home bought at £100,000 with a 40% discount, sold after 18 months for £120,000. The discount is now 40% of £120,000, which is £48,000, and in the second year you pay back 80% of that: £38,400.

If you sell within 10 years, you must first offer the home to your old landlord or another social landlord in the area, at the full market price. If it does not agree to buy within 8 weeks, you can sell to anyone.

The legal side

Once you accept the offer, you will usually want a conveyancer to complete the purchase, and if you take a mortgage, your lender will need one. Our Right to Buy solicitors page sets out the steps, the deadlines and our fee: our standard purchase fee plus the "Right to Buy" charge of £250 + VAT.

Sources

GOV.UK, Right to Buy: buying your council home, including the discounts and selling your home sections, checked on 20 October 2026.

This guide is general information about the rules, not legal or financial advice for your situation.