Your Home Finance
Your Right to Buy discount is your deposit — not your affordability.
Lenders still underwrite your income, the property itself and the rules on repaying the discount if you sell early.
30+ years
mortgage advice
Discount as deposit
understood
Ex-local authority
lender panel
Section 125
figures checked
Situation grid
Where are you with Right to Buy?
How your case is assessed
How lenders assess a Right to Buy purchase
The discount solves the deposit. It solves nothing else — and on ex-local authority flats the property itself refuses more cases than income does.
The discount behaves like a deposit
Lenders work from the discounted purchase price on your Section 125 offer notice, not the open market value. That's why many Right to Buy purchases need no cash deposit at all — though not every lender will lend to the full discounted price.
Affordability is still underwritten in full
Income, outgoings, credit history and the lender's stress test all apply exactly as they would on any purchase. A large discount does not make the monthly payment smaller or the affordability test easier.
The property decides more than people expect
Ex-local authority houses usually have a broad panel. Flats are harder — high-rise, deck access, balcony access, non-standard construction and the proportion of privately owned units in the block all narrow the list of lenders sharply.
Discount repayment and resale rules
Sell within the early years and part of the discount is repayable on a sliding scale, and your landlord keeps a right of first refusal for longer. Lenders factor this in — and most restrict borrowing above the purchase price for improvements.
You don't need to guess whether your block is lendable — we check the property and the panel before any hard search.
Specialist insight
Not every lender treats Right to Buy the same way
Ex-council flat · discount-only deposit · thin income
Higher challenge
Narrow panel · high-rise and deck-access blocks are declined by many lenders on criteria alone · fewer will lend to 100% of the discounted price without cash on top.
Ex-council house · long tenancy · affordability headroom
More lender choice
Broader high-street and specialist panels · better rate tiers · a clear path when the property type, income and discount all line up.
Independent reviews
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Your adviser
Jay Sabine
Expert mortgage adviser specialising in complex cases including adverse credit, self-employed borrowers, and first-time buyers. All advice is tailored to your individual circumstances.
Content reviewed: 3 August 2026
CeMAP awarded by The London Institute of Banking & Finance. Cert CII (MP) awarded by the Chartered Insurance Institute.
Specialist in Right to Buy mortgages
Helping clients with complex credit histories for over 30 years · CeMAP, Cert CII (MP) · FCA regulated
“Tenants are told the discount means they can buy. The discount is the deposit — it isn't the affordability. Income, the property and the discount repayment rules still decide the case.”
Reviewed by Jay Sabine · Mortgage adviser · 30+ years' experience
Lived experience
Mistakes we repeatedly see
Not theory — patterns that keep showing up when tenants act on the discount before anyone checks the mortgage.
Assuming the discount means approval
The discount removes the deposit problem and nothing else. We regularly see tenants with a substantial discount declined purely on affordability, because the monthly payment on the discounted price still has to pass a stress test.
Applying before the offer notice arrives
The Section 125 notice sets the actual purchase price and discount. Applying on an estimate means reworking the case when the real figures land — and the acceptance deadline is already running.
Ignoring the discount repayment window
Buying with a plan to sell in two or three years usually costs a large slice of the discount back. If moving on is genuinely likely, that changes whether buying is the right decision at all.
Assuming a flat is as lendable as a house
Storey height, access type, construction and the mix of private ownership in the block routinely decide these cases. We check the block against lender criteria first, rather than waiting for a valuation to fail.
Real client scenarios
Real mortgage journeys
Based on genuine cases we've helped with. Personal details have been changed to protect privacy.
Discount covered the deposit — no cash needed
- Long-standing tenant
- Ex-council house
- No cash deposit
- Approved
Situation
A long-standing council tenant received her offer notice with a substantial discount but had no savings for a deposit.
Challenge
Two high-street lenders wanted a cash deposit on top of the discount, and a third's affordability model wouldn't stretch to the payment on a single income.
What changed
We placed the case with a lender that lends against the full discounted purchase price and assesses her income type more realistically, then evidenced affordability with her long payment history as a tenant.
Outcome
Purchase completed with no cash deposit — her monthly payment came in below the rent she had been paying.
Why it worked
We treated the discount as the deposit and went to lenders whose criteria actually allow that, instead of asking her to find savings she didn't have.
Ex-council flat declined — placed with a specialist
- High-rise block
- Declined on criteria
- Discount intact
- Completed
Situation
A tenant in a high-rise ex-local authority block was declined after his bank's valuer flagged the property type.
Challenge
The decline was purely criteria-driven — storey height and the proportion of privately owned flats in the block. His income and credit were never the issue, but he now had a footprint and a ticking deadline.
What changed
We identified lenders that accept his block type, confirmed the criteria before applying, and submitted a single well-evidenced application rather than another attempt on the high street.
Outcome
Approved and completed inside his offer notice deadline, with the discount preserved.
Why it worked
The property was checked against criteria before an application went in — which is the difference between one approval and three declines.
What happens after you get in touch
From first contact to a clear answer
What happens when you get in touch — no hard search at this stage.
- 1
We look at your Section 125 offer notice, the discount and your income (no hard search)
- 2
Jay tests affordability against the discounted purchase price — not the discount headline
- 3
We check which lenders accept your property type, tenancy and any extra borrowing
- 4
If proceeding: Agreement in Principle → application → valuation → completion
Reassurance
- Free initial review — before any hard credit search
- We check the property type early — ex-local authority flats are where most cases fail
- Not every lender will lend to the full discounted price — we find the ones who will
Before you enquire
What we'll ask you on the first call
Straightforward questions — no hard credit search at this stage.
- How long you've been a tenant, and whether you have your Section 125 offer notice yet
- The discount, the discounted purchase price and the full market value
- The property type — house or flat, and if a flat, the storey and access type
- Your income, outgoings, any credit history, and whether you need extra borrowing for repairs
Advisory promise
When we might tell you to wait
We won't always tell you to apply today.
We may advise waiting where affordability on the discounted price is genuinely too tight, where a recent credit issue will age out and open the panel, or where you're likely to move within the discount repayment window and buying would cost you more than renting.
If waiting, or resolving the property paperwork first, would meaningfully widen your options, we'll say so before another footprint goes on your file. We give advice — not just applications.
Straight answers
Common questions about Right to Buy mortgages
Our promise
What we'll never do
- Tell you to apply if it won't work
- Send applications everywhere
- Recommend borrowing beyond your budget
- Hide bad news
We don't tell you the discount makes it affordable. We help you understand whether a lender will actually agree.
Find out whether your Right to Buy will get a mortgage
Tell us the discount on your offer notice, your income and the type of property — we'll assess what's realistically possible.
We don't recommend a lender until we've checked your property type, your affordability and how much of the discounted price they'll actually lend.
A five-minute conversation now can save you the acceptance deadline on your offer notice.
£500 adviser fee — payable on completion.
Get Clear, Honest Mortgage Advice — Before You Apply
Free consultation • No credit search • FCA regulated
Struggled to get approved elsewhere? We specialise in complex cases including CCJs, self-employed income, and declined applications. Over 90% of our clients had concerns about their situation before speaking to us.
The Basics
Your Needs
Property
Income
Credit
Step 1 of 5
Related guides
Right to Buy — related decisions
If your purchase hinges on one of these questions, these chapters go deeper.
First-time buyer
The wider first purchase decision — affordability, readiness and next steps.
Open guide →
Shared Ownership mortgages
If Right to Buy isn't available to you, the other part-ownership route onto the ladder.
Open guide →
Bad credit mortgages
When credit marks sit alongside the purchase and the high street may auto-decline.
Open guide →
Home mover mortgages
For when you come to sell and move on — including the discount repayment window.
Open guide →