Housing services
Home Ownership
The Right to Buy and Right to Acquire
The Right to Buy (RTB) and Right to Acquire (RTA) schemes give eligible residents the opportunity to buy the home they currently rent, aided by a discount towards the market value.
Who is eligible for the Right to Buy/Acquire Scheme?
In general terms, Victory Housing Trust residents may be eligible to purchase their property under one of the following schemes:
The Preserved Right to Buy (PRTB):this applies to former secure local authority residents who have changed landlord due to a stock transfer from their local authority to a registered social landlord such as Victory Housing Trust. These secure tenants become assured tenants with the transfer, but keep their statutory right to buy their home at a discount.
The Right to Acquire scheme: applies to eligible assured tenants who do not have the preserved right to buy. You will need to have been a social housing tenant for a minimum of five years before you qualify for The Right to Acquire.
The Right to Acquire only applies to properties built or purchased by Victory on or after 1 April 1997 and funded through social housing grant. Properties in small rural areas and sheltered housing are not included in the scheme.
Further guidance is available in the 'Your Right to Buy Your Home' Booklet published by the Communities and Local Government Department and the 'Guide to Right to Acquire'.
Where can I get an application form?
Application forms for both the right to buy and right to acquire are available by contacting our Customer Services Team on 0845 300 6648 or clicking on the links below:
Right to Buy application form
Right to Acquire application form
New Build HomeBuy (formally Shared Ownership).
New Build HomeBuy is a fantastic opportunity if you want to get a foot on the property ladder but can’t afford buy a home on the open market. It allows you to buy a share in a brand new leasehold property on a part buy/part rent basis and pay a subsidised rent on the part that you do not own.
You can buy an initial share of between 25% and 75% of the property and pay rent to your Registered Social Landlord on the remaining share. The bigger the share you buy, the less rent you have to pay. You will need to be able to raise a mortgage for the share you want to purchase unless you have sufficient money of your own.
In most cases, as you become able to afford it, you can buy additional shares until you own the property outright. This is known as ‘staircasing’.
To be eligible, you must be registered with Orbit First Step, the HomeBuy Agent for Norfolk, that provides a one stop shop service to people interested in any of the Homebuy schemes available across Norfolk and Suffolk . Orbit Homebuy Agents will process your Homebuy application to determine initial eligibility for the Homebuy schemes. If you are eligible for HomebuyOrbit Homebuy Agents will keep your details on a central register and make them available to other providers that have Homebuy schemes available in the areas of Norfolk & Suffolk.
HomeBuy Products are designed for key workers and other priority groups such as local authority or housing association tenants, and those identified by regional housing boards as being in priority need.
Most people assisted under the HomeBuy programme are first time buyers; however, we can also help if you need to buy a property in a situation such as a relationship breakdown or where your household has outgrown existing arrangements.
For further information click on the links below or contact our Customer Services Team on 0845 300 6648 or contact Orbit HomeBuy Agents on 0345 8502050 or go to www.orbithomebuyagents.co.uk
