The Right to Buy scheme allows eligible council (and some housing association) tenants to purchase their home, often at a significant discount to its market value. Understanding how the mortgage side of this process works — separate from the discount itself — is essential to using the scheme successfully.

How the Right to Buy discount works

Eligible tenants who meet the qualifying tenancy length can buy their home at a discount to its full market value, with the discount typically increasing with years of qualifying tenancy up to a maximum percentage and a maximum cash cap, both of which are reviewed periodically by government and can vary by region. Always check the current discount rules and caps directly via your local council, since these details change over time.

How lenders treat the discount

Key point: Most lenders will treat your Right to Buy discount as equivalent to a cash deposit, meaning you may not need to find additional savings on top of it to secure a mortgage — the discount itself effectively becomes your deposit, subject to the lender's normal affordability assessment on the remaining amount you need to borrow.

Applying for a mortgage on a Right to Buy purchase

  1. Confirm your eligibility and discount amount with your council, and obtain your formal Right to Buy offer notice.
  2. Approach lenders or a broker to discuss mortgage options based on the discounted purchase price.
  3. Go through the standard affordability assessment — income, outgoings, credit history — as with any mortgage application.
  4. Complete the purchase, with your solicitor handling the legal transfer alongside the standard mortgage process.

Not every lender treats Right to Buy identically

While the discount is often accepted as an effective deposit, individual lender policy on Right to Buy applications — including maximum loan-to-value based on the discounted price and how they view the discount structurally — varies, so comparing lenders (or using a broker familiar with Right to Buy cases specifically) is worthwhile rather than assuming every lender applies the same approach.

The discount repayment clawback

Important: If you sell the property within a set number of years of buying under Right to Buy (a period set by current rules), you may need to repay some or all of the discount you received, on a sliding scale that reduces the longer you've owned the property. This is separate from any mortgage Early Repayment Charge and should be factored into your plans if there's a realistic chance you might sell relatively soon after buying.

Other costs to budget for beyond the mortgage

  • Legal and conveyancing fees for the purchase
  • A survey, since Right to Buy properties (particularly older council stock) can have specific structural or maintenance considerations worth understanding before you commit
  • Ongoing maintenance responsibilities that shift from the council to you as the new owner
  • Service charges if the property is a flat within a block, which can sometimes be significant for older stock

Is Right to Buy always the right choice?

The discount can make Right to Buy a genuinely compelling route to ownership, but it's worth weighing the total cost of ownership — mortgage payments, maintenance, service charges, and the discount clawback period — against your realistic plans to stay in the property for the medium to long term, rather than treating the discount alone as the only factor in the decision.

Worth reading next: our guide on Shared Ownership Explained: How UK Buyer Schemes Work, and How Much Deposit Do You Need for a UK Mortgage?.

To run your own numbers, try our Mortgage Affordability Calculator.

The bottom line

Right to Buy mortgages work broadly like any other residential mortgage, with the key difference being that your discount typically substitutes for a cash deposit. Confirm your exact discount and any clawback terms with your council, compare lenders who are genuinely comfortable with Right to Buy applications, and budget for the wider costs of ownership before proceeding.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial, legal or tax advice. Rates, thresholds and eligibility criteria change over time — always check current terms with the lender or an FCA-regulated adviser before making a decision. See our full terms and disclaimer.