Is the right to buy scheme worth it?
Asking yourself ‘Is the right to buy scheme worth it?' In this video, Samuel talks about a particular government program which is purely for people living in council-owned homes in England. If you don't fit into that category, you might still be interested in knowing what it is. Lots of people have benefited from it, including some of Samuel's students who have featured on Winners on a Wednesday. If you have used the Right to Buy scheme yourself, we'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment in the section below the video on YouTube. We may even invite you onto the channel!
What is the right to buy scheme?
If you are a tenant living in a council house or another kind of property owned by the government, you could be entitled to purchase it at a heavily discounted rate. One stipulation is that you must have lived there for a long period of time – the discount increases the longer you have been a resident. This scheme was introduced in 1980 by the polarising Margaret Thatcher and was subsequently scrapped in Scotland in 2016. Wales followed suit in 2019 and Northern Ireland has restricted it. However, in England it is still alive and kicking – but for how long? Who knows!
The main pros
One of the biggest advantages of this scheme is that you can own a property at a below market value rate. It's almost unheard of to get a 30-50% discount on a property but you can with this program. Another big plus is that you don't have to wait to let it out. As soon as you purchase the property, you can rent it out immediately (providing you have the right type of mortgage). This is something has happened often in London, seemingly to the government's dismay.
The Cons
Frankly, there just aren't that many disadvantages. One of the big ones is that you have to wait 5 years before you can sell the property without giving the discount back. Secondly, the property itself might not be that special but hey, property is at a premium no matter what it is and where it is.
