Right to Acquire

The Right to Acquire is a scheme which gives eligible tenants of a registered social landlord, such as Wakefield and District Housing (WDH), the legal right to buy their home.

You must have spent a total of two years as a public sector tenant (a tenant of one of the landlords listed in the booklet Thinking of Buying Your Home available by clicking on the link or from your local Service Access Point and the Right to Acquire Office based at Merefield House, Castleford.

If your first tenancy began after 18 January 2005, then you will need to have spent five years as a public sector tenant to qualify for the Right to Acquire.

The maximum discount for the Yorkshire Area for Right to Acquire is £9,000.

You must live in the house or flat as your only or main home.

You will not be eligible to claim the Right to Acquire if you are:

• An undischarged bankrupt or have a bankruptcy petition pending against you.
• The subject of a possession order served by the Court.
• Subject to a formal creditors agreement under the Insolvency Acts.
• Live in a property in certain rural areas containing settlements where the population is 3,000 or fewer.
• Live in tied accommodation occupied because you are employed by the registered social landlord or other social landlord.

Up to three family members may share your application to buy if they live at the property as their only or principal home and have done so for more than twelve months.

Certain properties are excluded from the Right to Acquire scheme. These include sheltered housing properties and certain bungalows/ground floor flats.

You cannot apply to buy your home if it is scheduled for possible demolition.

New rules mean that a Right to Acquire can be suspended or ended if you (or a member of your household or any visitors) is engaging in anti-social behaviour (or threatening to do so).

This list is not exhaustive.