What is the sales process?
- Once we’ve confirmed your home is suitable for purchase, we’ll instruct an independent RICS accredited surveyor to provide us with a fair, open-market valuation for your property.
- When we’ve received the valuation, and a member of our building services team has reviewed the property, we’ll call you with an offer.
- If you’re happy with the offer, we’ll get final financial approvals before sending you formal written confirmation.
- After this, we’ll proceed to the legal stages with an aim to complete as soon as convenient.
What types of properties do we buy?
We buy back a variety of ex-council homes depending on our current finances. You can always contact us to find out what we’re currently able to buy
What if I can’t agree to your offer?
You don’t need to accept our offer. There’s no obligation for you to proceed after we’ve made our offer. You’re free to sell your home on the open market at any time, and you can even come back to us if you’ve changed your mind after declining our initial offer.
How long does it take?
Property acquisitions can take time, but we generally aim to complete the legal stages within four months from your acceptance of our offer. We can be flexible with those timescales and can keep you updated throughout the process.
What happens to my service charge and reserve fund?
- If you owe us money (a debit balance) in your service charge or reserve fund account, this amount will be taken from the final payment when the sale completes.
- If your service charge account has extra money (a credit balance), it will be refunded to you as part of the final payment.
What if I bought my home through the Right to Buy scheme?
If you bought your home through ‘Right to Buy’ in the last 10 years, you should:
- Ask us first if we want to buy it back before putting it on the open market.
- If we’re interested, we’ll arrange an independent open-market valuation and make you an offer. If you think the offer is too low, you’re free to sell it on the open market instead.
- If we’re not interested, we’ll let you know, and you can go ahead and sell it on the open market.
If you bought your home through ‘Right to Buy’ in the last five years, you may need to:
- Repay some or all of the discount you were given.
- The amount depends on how long ago you bought it and is based on the completion date of the sale – not when you first contact us.
Paying back your discount
You’ll have to pay back all of 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
The amount you pay back depends on the value of your home when you sell it.
Example: You bought your home worth £100,000 and got a 40% discount (£40,000). You then sold your home after 18 months for £120,000.
40% of £120,000 is £48,000. As you’re in the second year, you would repay 80% of £48,000 (£38,400).
Will I need a solicitor or other legal help?
Yes, you will need legal representation to do the conveyancing (transferring ownership) for your sale.
We will not proceed with the sale unless you have a qualified conveyancer, and you cannot represent yourself.
How much will I be offered for my property?
We’ll always offer you a fair price based on the current market value of your home. To make sure the valuation is accurate and unbiased, we use an independent surveyor to assess your property.
The surveyor is RICS-accredited (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), which means they follow strict professional standards.
Where do I take the keys once sold?
You’ll need to drop your keys to either your:
- nearest housing office on the day we complete on the sale, or
- estate agent if you’re using one
If you’re not sure of your nearest housing office, we can let you know.
Why are we looking to buy your property?
There’s a very limited supply of council homes in Portsmouth, and we need more properties to help make sure our residents have a safe space to live.
We’ll buy your home for one of two reasons:
- General needs: Properties bought for general needs go into our housing stock. We’ll allocate these homes to suitable residents on the housing register.
- Temporary accommodation: We’ll use these properties to house people who do not currently have a permanent home, such as those experiencing eviction or a relationship breakdown (although there can be many reasons).
