Social Housing Courses & Training

Housing FAQs

• What is a tenant?

  A tenant is someone who rents or occupies a property, or a piece of land, from the owner. Tenants often pay the landlord monthly or weekly to live in the property or use the land.

• What is the Right to Buy?

  The Right to Buy scheme was introduced in 1980 and gives qualifying social housing tenants the right to buy their home. The scheme is open to to secure tenants of local authority and non-charitable housing associations.

  Assured tenants of housing associations whose homes were transferred from local authority as part of a stock transfer may also be eligible.

  The scheme entitles tenants to buy their home with a minimum discount. The discount increases depending on the term of the tenancy up to a maximum level.

• What is the Right to Acquire?

  The Right to Acquire was introduced by the Housing Act 1996, it allows most housing association tenants to buy their home at a discount. 

  Since the 1988 Housing Act, most new housing association tenants are granted an assured tenancy and these tenants do not have the Right to Buy. 

  As a result of this the Right to Acquire scheme was created, this scheme allows most housing association tenants to buy their homes at a discount.

• What is a Housing Association?

  Housing associations are independent landlords. They work closely with councils to help people in housing need and sometimes they will have their own waiting list.

  If the housing association does have their own waiting list they will make their own assessment of your housing need and decide if you can join their waiting list.