If you rent a social home in England and are considering buying it, the government has explained which step matters for the proposed changeover. Its 3 November 2026 guidance says tenants who want their application considered under the current rules need to submit the appropriate claim form to their landlord before the Social Housing Bill receives Royal Assent. As of 4 November the Bill is still in Parliament and the date of Royal Assent is unknown. Read the government’s Right to Buy factsheet.
Which form goes to your landlord?
- Council tenants using Right to Buy use the RTB1 notice. The current eligibility checks include being a secure tenant, occupying the property as your only or main home and having a self-contained home. Check the current criteria and get the RTB1 application instructions.
- Housing association tenants with Preserved Right to Buy also use RTB1. This can apply if the council transferred your home to another landlord while you were living there. Ask your landlord to confirm whether you retained this right. Read the guidance for housing association tenants.
- Housing association tenants using Right to Acquire use the RTA1 form. If you are unsure which scheme covers the property, check with the landlord before choosing a form. Get the Right to Acquire application instructions.
Keep a copy of the completed form and ask your landlord for a dated acknowledgement showing when it received the application. An enquiry about buying and a request for a mortgage quotation are both separate from sending the claim form.
How would the proposed rules affect a purchase?
Today, the qualifying period for Right to Buy is three years with a public sector landlord. The three years can come from separate tenancies, including time with different public sector landlords. The Bill would raise that minimum to ten years. If you have moved between social homes, write down the landlord and start and end dates for each tenancy. Ask the landlord handling your application to check which periods count.
The proposed Right to Buy discount would start at 5% after ten qualifying years, rising by one percentage point for each extra year, up to 15%. The regional cash maximum would also apply, so the lower limit would determine the discount. This proposal also covers Preserved Right to Buy. The separate Right to Acquire guidance says its existing discount levels would stay in place. Compare the two schemes in the housing association factsheet.
Before committing to a purchase, ask what repairs and service charges would become your responsibility and use the landlord’s written offer when it arrives to work through the price. You can compare mortgage payments with those ongoing ownership costs in the mortgage calculator and household running-cost budget.