The Right to Buy scheme helps eligible council and housing association tenants in England buy their homes and gives tenants a discount on the open market.
Certain types of properties are exempt from the Right to Buy, as detailed below, but all are assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Your landlord may refuse to let you buy on the grounds that your home is particularly suitable for occupation by elderly people (under paragraph 11 of Schedule 5 to the Housing Act 1985:
In this case, the council may suspend your right to buy by sending you an initial demolition notice, or end your right to buy by sending you a final demolition notice.
Special rules must be met in these cases. ‘Sheltered housing’ normally means that the property is one of a group of such dwellings, that a warden service is provided, and that there is a common room nearby. 10 ‘Housing for the disabled’ means a property that is one of a group and has features that are substantially different from those of ordinary dwellings and with special facilities that are provided nearby.
If the lease is for less than 21 years for a house and fewer than 50 years for a flat or maisonette.