How the Discount Works
What Discount Can You Get?
The Right to Buy discount is calculated differently depending on whether you are purchasing a house or a flat. The longer you have been a public sector tenant, the larger the discount. The three sections below set out how the discount scales for each property type and how the monetary cap works.
No Cash Needed
Using Your Discount as a Deposit
One of the biggest advantages of Right to Buy is that most lenders accept the RTB discount in lieu of a cash deposit. This means you can often purchase your home with no savings, using the discount to satisfy the lender's deposit requirement. There are some important details to understand:
How Lenders Treat the Discount
Most specialist RTB lenders will lend up to 100% of the discounted purchase price. They treat the discount as equity, so there is no requirement for a separate cash deposit. Your broker will confirm which lenders currently accept this structure and offer competitive rates.
Affordability Is Based on the Discounted Price
Lenders assess affordability against the discounted purchase price, not the full market value. This means your mortgage payments will be lower than buying at full price — often significantly so — making homeownership through Right to Buy more accessible.
Discount Repayment if You Sell Early
If you sell within five years, you must repay a portion of the discount. The repayment is calculated as the discount percentage applied to the sale price at that time, not the original amount. After five full years of ownership no repayment is required. Your solicitor registers this condition against the title on completion.
Speak to your adviser before accepting your landlord's offer notice. The discount valuation can be challenged if you believe it is incorrect, and securing a mortgage offer early ensures you complete within the required timeframe. Most Right to Buy purchases must complete within 12 weeks of the offer notice being issued.
