If you have bought your home under the Right to Buy, you can sell it whenever you like.  However, if you sell within the first five years of ownership, you will usually have to repay some or all of the discount.

You will have to pay back all the discount if you sell within the first year. After that, the total amount you pay back reduces to:

• 80% of the discount in the second year
• 60% of the discount in the third year
• 40% of the discount in the fourth year
• 20% of the discount in the fifth year
• After 5 years, you can sell without repaying any discount.

In addition, the amount of discount to be repaid if you sell within 5 years of purchase will be a percentage of the resale value of the property, disregarding the value of any improvements. For example, if your home was valued at £125,000 at the time you bought it from your landlord, and you received a discount of £50,000, that means that your discount was 40%.

If your home is valued at £160,000 when you wish to sell it, and you sell within the second year of purchase, you will have to repay an amount of the same percentage of the sale price. In this case, as the initial discount was 40%, and selling in the second year required four fifths of the discount to be paid back, the amount needing to be paid would be four fifths of 40% of £160,000, which is four fifths of £64,000, or £51,200.

Certain sales or transfers are exempt from the requirement to repay the discount, for example transfers between certain family members. In addition, if you would face hardship by having to repay your discount, and your circumstances justify it, your landlord can decide not to ask you to pay some or all of what you owe. If in advance of your purchase, or within the discount repayment period, you enter into an agreement to transfer your property to a third party in the future, then this will trigger repayment of your discount.