Buying your PCH home

As one of our tenants, you may have the opportunity to buy your home through Right to Buy, Right to Acquire or Right to Shared Ownership

If you were a secure council tenant of Plymouth City Council and were living in your home when it was transferred to Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) on the 20 November 2009 you may have been given the Preserved Right to Buy.

To keep this Preserved Right to Buy, you would need to have continuously been a tenant of a PCH property from the stock transfer date until now.

Someone who has succeeded to or is assigned the tenancy of a family member, who had the Preserved Right to Buy, may have gained the Preserved Right to Buy.

If you are considering a mutual exchange from another landlord to a PCH property or have already done so, you would not be eligible to buy a property from PCH under the Right to Buy scheme but you may be eligible to buy under the Right to Acquire scheme.

Please note that not all PCH properties are eligible to be sold under the Right to Buy scheme. Guidance and the application form can be found below:

If you do not have the Preserved Right to Buy, you may be able to buy your home at a smaller discount under Right to Acquire.

If you became a tenant of PCH after 20 November 2009 and have been a public sector tenant for 3 years or more you may be able to buy your home under this scheme with a discount of £9,000.

If you are considering a mutual exchange from another landlord to a PCH property or have already done so, you may also be eligible to buy under the Right to Acquire scheme.

Please note that not all PCH properties are eligible to be sold under the Right to Acquire scheme. Guidance and the application form can be found below:

Contractual sales may apply to PCH tenants who were secure tenants of another housing association and who had a contractual right to buy immediately before the ownership of their home transferred to PCH.

If you would like more information please call the Sales Team on 0800 0778 748.

Some Plymouth Community Homes tenants may have the Right to Shared Ownership.

Right to Shared Ownership enables existing tenants to purchase a share of their rented home, with the minimum share starting at 10%.

When you purchase a share, you will become a shared owner under a shared ownership lease. The remaining share of the home is retained by the landlord (PCH).

The Right to Shared Ownership is available exclusively for homes which have been recently built or acquired with government grant funding. Your tenancy agreement will specify whether your home would qualify for this scheme, as well as other eligibility criteria.

For further information on the scheme, visit the Government website.

How much is my home worth?

Once your application has been accepted PCH will arrange for your property to be valued by a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) valuer. We do not hold valuations of homes as these are only considered when we receive your application.

We will then need to carry out further checks before being able to send you an offer letter with your valuation, discount and purchase price.

Can I get an estimated valuation of my home?

You can obtain an estimated valuation of your property with the assistance of Zoopla Estimate. Once you have an estimated valuation you can go to the government website to view the maximum discounts available on a Right to Buy home. The Right to Acquire discount for Plymouth is fixed at £9,000 for 2024/25.

The actual valuation of your property may differ from the estimated valuation provided by Zoopla depending on the condition of your property, the construction type of your property and any future works predicted that you may need to contribute towards.

Once you have an estimated value and you have considered the potential discount, it is worth speaking to an Mortgage Advisor to see if you can afford to buy your home as well as the costs of maintenance before applying.

What documents do I need to provide when I apply?

You must provide the relevant application form and declaration form when you apply.

During the application process, you will also be required to provide the following for all applicants:

relevant certificate(s) if your name has changed and hasn’t been updated on the PCH systems
a document showing proof of address and legal name – a list of acceptable documents will be provided to you once you have submitted your application.
for tenants: one document for each person dated in the last three months
for the spouse of tenants: one document dated in the last three months and a copy of your marriage certificate
for family members: one document from 13 months ago, one document every three months since and one document within the last month. We will also need to see evidence of your relationship with the tenant.
Photo ID which will be processed through our Electronic ID Verification (EIDV) system, or birth certificate with a document showing your National Insurance number.

Please contact us before submitting your application if you will be unable to supply any of the documents.

We will not be able to accept your application if:

You do not complete your application form and declaration form in full
The form is not signed and dated
You have not provided the relevant ID and proof of address documents.

How to apply

Fill out your application form and email it to us or post it to Sales Team, Plymouth Community Homes, Plumer House, Tailyour Road, Plymouth, PL6 5DH.

If you have any queries, contact the Sales Team on 0800 0778 748.

Buying your PCH home

As one of our tenants, you may have the opportunity to buy your home through Right to Buy, Right to Acquire or Right to Shared Ownership

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