If your housing association has confirmed Right to Acquire, the next question is whether the purchase and mortgage work for your finances. We can help you assess the written offer, any cash gap and the lender’s checks before you commit to costs.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
The short answer
It is a mortgage used to buy a home through Right to Acquire; it is not a separate guarantee or a fixed-rate product. If the landlord agrees to sell, its discount reduces the purchase price. A lender then decides whether to offer a loan after checking affordability, credit history, the property and its own current criteria.
Right to Acquire is an England scheme for some housing association tenants and homes. The landlord, not Count Ready, decides your scheme entitlement. If you have not yet established which right applies, begin with our housing-association purchase guide. That guide separates Right to Acquire from Preserved Right to Buy. This page concentrates on financing a confirmed Right to Acquire purchase.
Start with the paperwork
The written offer is a better mortgage starting point than a guessed discount or online rate.
Check the landlord’s market valuation, the stated discount, any reduction for a previous scheme discount and the price you would actually pay. Right to Acquire discounts vary by location; the current published range is £9,000 to £16,000. Your landlord confirms the amount for this home.
Read the property description and any known structural problems. For a flat or maisonette, review the lease and the offer’s first five years of estimated service charges. Ask a conveyancer about repairs, planned works and ongoing obligations.
GOV.UK gives you 12 weeks after the offer to say whether you still want to buy. If you think the landlord’s valuation is too high, ask about the independent-valuation route promptly; the published request deadline is three months from the offer.
See the official offer guidance. The lender’s valuation is a separate mortgage check and may not equal the landlord’s figure.
A discount is not cash in your bank
The scheme discount reduces what you pay the landlord. It does not ensure that a lender will lend the full discounted price or treat the discount as a deposit. Its approach to the discount, valuation and loan-to-value may differ. You may still need a cash contribution and money for legal work, a survey, lender fees, moving and tax where due.
Use your own offer and finances before applying. A broker can check which lenders currently consider the transaction and compare the full cost of a suitable mortgage. Avoid applying to several lenders on the assumption that their treatment will match.
For the broader cash-versus-discount distinction, read our existing deposit and buying-cost guide. Its illustrations are not a lender decision for Right to Acquire.
These numbers only show the arithmetic; £12,000 is not a quote for your location, and £160,000 is not a lending indication. A lender may value the property differently, offer a different loan or decline the application. Legal, survey and other costs are additional.
Landlord, adviser, lender and conveyancer
Ask the housing association to confirm Right to Acquire for the tenancy and home. It handles the RTA application and any offer. A mortgage conversation can start earlier, but it cannot grant scheme eligibility.
Share the landlord’s offer, intended purchasers, income, regular spending, debts and available savings with your adviser. Include any credit issues and your deadline to respond to the offer.
A suitable lender must be willing to consider the scheme, applicants, proposed loan and home. It may require a valuation and review the lease or building. An agreement in principle is not a final mortgage offer.
A conveyancer checks the sale documents, title and lease where relevant. Before exchange, understand the mortgage payment, fees, insurance, service charges, repairs and any discount repayment conditions on a later sale.
Your landlord’s response and offer stages have published time limits; mortgage underwriting and conveyancing have separate timescales. No completion date or lender acceptance is guaranteed.
The whole ownership cost
The lender considers income and regular expenditure as well as other borrowing. Think beyond today’s rent: mortgage repayments, household bills, insurance, maintenance and leasehold charges can change the budget.
Tell the adviser about missed payments, defaults or changes in work and income. A credit issue does not automatically give a yes or no answer; lender policy and the whole application matter. Our bad credit mortgage guide explains that separate question.
Lease term, building condition and lender valuation can affect the loan. If you may move, let or remortgage later, ask the conveyancer about the title and the official resale and discount rules before treating future equity as available cash.
Read original client feedback on Google before you enquire. A review describes someone’s experience with advice; it cannot predict your scheme eligibility or mortgage outcome.
A Right to Acquire purchase has a landlord’s decision, a lender’s decision and legal checks. It is sensible to see how an adviser explains those separate steps and communicates when more information is needed.
We link to the live profile so you can read feedback in context rather than relying on selected quotes.
An initial conversation
Say whether the landlord has confirmed Right to Acquire and issued an offer. If it has, note the market value, discount, purchase price, property type and any reply deadline. Tell us who will buy, broad income and commitments, available cash and any credit or leasehold concerns.
We can explain which mortgage questions still need checking. There is no broker fee for our initial evaluation under our published Terms of Business; we explain applicable later fees and exceptions before chargeable work. Do not send identity documents, bank statements or credit reports through an open enquiry form.
Count Ready is a broker, not a lender. An enquiry does not guarantee a mortgage or a Right to Acquire sale.
Common questions
Yes. An adviser can discuss broad affordability and what information to prepare. A lender will still need the actual purchase and property details, and the landlord must decide whether you can buy under the scheme. An early conversation is not a mortgage offer.
It depends on the lender and the application. The discount reduces the purchase price, but lenders can differ in how they assess it, the property value and any cash contribution. You may also need money for legal work, a survey, fees and moving costs.
There is no reliable amount from the discount alone. A lender will assess income, regular spending, existing debts, credit history, the property, the proposed loan and its current criteria. Use the landlord’s written offer and your actual finances for an individual assessment.
The landlord’s offer sets out its price and discount, while a lender obtains its own valuation for the mortgage. A difference may change the loan available or leave more cash to find. Ask your adviser and conveyancer what the difference means before paying further costs.
Possibly, but no credit issue or lender outcome can be judged from a label alone. The type, amount and timing of missed payments or other events, alongside affordability and the property, matter. Share the facts with an adviser before making multiple applications.
A qualifying flat may be bought under the scheme, but the landlord decides scheme eligibility and the lender assesses the lease and building. Check remaining lease term, service charges, planned major works and the offer’s first five years of estimated charges with a conveyancer.
Ask for the written reason and check the tenancy and property facts with the landlord. GOV.UK says there is no appeal against the landlord’s Right to Acquire decision. If the position is unclear, consider independent housing or legal advice. A mortgage adviser cannot overturn the scheme decision.
GOV.UK says selling within five years means repaying some or all of the discount, with the calculation linked to the resale value. A sale within ten years also requires you to offer the home to your former landlord first. Check the current rules and your legal documents before relying on a future sale or remortgage.
Scheme information and official links checked 15 October 2026. This is general information, not an entitlement decision, mortgage offer or legal advice.
Share the landlord’s figures and what you can afford. We can help you identify the lender, property and cash checks before you decide whether to apply.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
