Right to Buy Mortgages

Right to Buy mortgages can be easier to obtain than a standard purchase, with the discount reducing the loan-to-value against the market value. Approval still depends on affordability, credit history, property eligibility and lender-specific criteria, and some lenders do not lend on Right to Buy at all.

Some lenders let you borrow more than the discounted purchase price, subject to affordability and their loan-to-value limit, which is measured against the property's open market value. Your income and outgoings decide how much extra is affordable.

You need a mortgage for Right to Buy unless you can pay the discounted price in cash. The discount reduces the purchase price, and lenders that accept Right to Buy usually count it as equity towards the deposit, lowering the amount you need to borrow.

The discount lowers the loan-to-value, which can widen the choice of lender, but a Right to Buy mortgage is still assessed on your income, credit history and the lender's affordability checks. Each lender caps the loan against market value at its own level: published caps checked in September 2026 ranged from 75% to 95%.

A Right to Buy mortgage is a specialist residential mortgage that lets an eligible council tenant in England, or a housing association tenant with the Preserved Right to Buy, buy the home they rent under the government's Right to Buy scheme, often using the statutory discount as part or all of the deposit. Right to Buy has ended in Wales and Scotland.

You may be able to borrow more on your Right to Buy mortgage later if your affordability allows and the lender permits further borrowing, assessed against the property's market value. In England, during the discount repayment period, new borrowing ranks ahead of the discount charge only with your former landlord's consent, which it must give for approved purposes such as works to the home.

It can, for a time. In England, if you sell within five years of buying under Right to Buy you repay some or all of the discount, and if you sell within 10 years you must first offer the home to your former landlord or another social landlord in the area. The discount repayment is a charge on the home and the first refusal condition is entered on the register of title, so a later lender's solicitor checks both. During the five years, new borrowing ranks ahead of the discount charge only with your former landlord's consent, which it must give for approved purposes such as repaying the existing mortgage or paying for works to the home, so borrowing more for other reasons can be harder. After these periods, lenders assess the property's condition, construction and marketability in the usual way.

You may be able to borrow more than the discounted purchase price where affordability allows and the lender permits additional borrowing. Lenders assess the extra against your income and outgoings and against their loan-to-value limit, measured on the property's market value.

You can complete a Right to Buy purchase without a mortgage if you have sufficient cash to pay the discounted price outright. Otherwise you need a mortgage for the price that remains after the discount.

Yes, you can get a mortgage for Right to Buy if you are eligible for the scheme (in England, a council tenant, or a housing association tenant with the Preserved Right to Buy) and you meet the lender's affordability and credit criteria. You need a lender whose criteria accept Right to Buy purchases, unless you buy outright with cash.

You need a lender whose criteria accept Right to Buy purchases rather than a separate kind of mortgage. Those lenders allow for the statutory discount, the restrictions on the home and the scheme rules, which differ from standard residential lending, and some lenders do not lend on Right to Buy at all.

Several UK banks and building societies lend on Right to Buy, including high street lenders and specialist providers, each with its own limit against market value. Published examples, each one lender's rule checked in September 2026 that can change: Atom bank lends up to 95% of full market value (90% for flats and self-employed applicants); Skipton Building Society lends up to 100% of the discounted price with the loan-to-value restricted to 90% of open market value; and Tipton and Coseley Building Society lends the lower of 100% of the discounted price or 75% of open market value. Some lenders do not lend on Right to Buy, so availability depends on the lender, the property type, your credit profile and affordability, and not every lender supports every Right to Buy scenario.

How much you can borrow on a Right to Buy mortgage depends on your income, outgoings, credit profile and the lender's affordability rules. In our experience 5 times income is the standard multiple, up to 6 for professionals and specialist products, and each lender's affordability assessment decides the actual figure. The discount lowers the effective loan-to-value but does not replace the affordability checks.

Yes, depending on the lender. Some lenders list modern flat roof coverings such as felt, asphalt or GRP (glass reinforced plastic) among standard roof types. Others restrict them: some decline a home whose roof is mainly flat, and one residential lender limits the flat roof proportion on its highest loan to value lending. The lender and valuer look at the roof covering, its condition and how much of the roof is flat.

Yes, you can get a mortgage on a fixed-term contract in the UK. Many lenders accept fixed-term contract income where it is continuous and well evidenced, but each sets its own rules: published criteria ask for a minimum time left on the current contract, commonly one to six months, or evidence of renewal, and some ask for a track record in the same line of work instead.