Buying the home you rent

As a Southern Housing resident it may be possible to buy the home that you rent from us.

There are a number of schemes that allow you to do this and the eligibility criteria for each is different.

Find out more about these schemes below.

Schemes available:

The PRTB is the legal right given to former tenants of local authorities with a secure tenancy, to buy their home. The Preserved Right to Buy only applies if you were a tenant with specific local authorities during specific dates*.

To find out if you are eligible please email Sales.servicescentral@southernhousing.org.uk or call the team on 0300 555 2171.

Right to Acquire allows most housing association tenants to buy their home at a discount if certain criteria is met*.

To find out if you are eligible please email Sales.servicescentral@southernhousing.org.uk or call the team on 0300 555 2171.

Eligible residents will be able to buy an initial share of their home worth between 10% and 75% of its full market value, either in cash or through a mortgage, which can then be increased to 100% overtime through ‘staircasing’*.

To find out if you are eligible please email Sales.servicescentral@southernhousing.org.uk or call the team on 0300 555 2171.

The cost of homeownership

Before you look to purchase your home you will need to carefully consider if you can afford to run your own home. On-going costs to take into account include:

Mortgage repayments that may work out higher than your current rental payments
Insurance (buildings and contents)
Insurance for accident, sickness & unemployment
Service charges (if you are buying your property as a leaseholder)
Repairs and maintenance (major repairs will be your responsibility, for example boiler replacement, roofing repairs, plumbing work)
Other costs such as council tax, utilities and other bills.

It is important to remember that your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. You may risk being made homeless.

Try the handy calculator tool to explore and consider the costs of buying your own home, or check out the financial support pages on our website for more information (links below).

Try the calculator tool Go to our financial support pages

* Please note: the eligibility criteria for each scheme may vary. More information about RTB and other schemes is available from the gov.uk website.