Buying your Samphire home
If your home used to be owned by your local authority and was sold to us while you were living there, then you may be able to buy your home from us at a discount using the Right to Buy scheme. If this isn’t the case, but you’ve been a social housing tenant for three years, you could be eligible to purchase your home through the Right to Acquire scheme.
Both schemes have their own eligibility criteria, and you can find out more about this as well as the discount available and how to apply below.
Right to Buy
Four local authorities transferred their homes to us on the following dates:
- Suffolk Coastal District Council - 22nd May 1991
- Breckland District Council - 31st March 1993
- Forest Heath District Council - 11th October 2004
- North Norfolk District Council - 13th February 2006
If you were a tenant of any of these four local authorities at the date of transfer you may have the Right to Buy. There are many other factors that determine your eligibility, so you'll need to submit an application so that we can assess this fully.
Right to Acquire
To meet the criteria for Right to Acquire, you must have been a social housing tenant on an assured tenancy for at least three years and your home must meet the following criteria:
- It must have been built or bought by Flagship Housing Group after 31st March 1997, and funded through a social housing grant provided by the Housing Corporation or local council.
Or
- Transferred from a local council to Flagship Housing Group after 31st March 1997
And
- Your home must not be in a designated rural area, pursuant to The Housing (Right to Acquire or Enfrachise) (Designated Rural Areas in the East) Order 1997.
Find out more
We've put together a useful guide that provides a few more details including the discount available, how long the process might take and a helpful checklist so you know which forms you'll need to fill out and the types of identification you'll need to provide.
How to apply
We can can provide further information on your eligibility once we receive your completed application form. Please download and complete the forms below and email them to us at righttobuy@flagship-group.co.uk. Alternatively, you can post your forms to our Norwich office:
Right to Buy, Flagship Housing Group Limited, 31 King Street, Norwich, NR1 1PD
Right to Shared Ownership
The Government’s new Shared Ownership model gives eligible tenants the chance to buy a share of their home worth between 10% and 75% of its market value. You’ll buy an initial share, and then pay rent on the remaining shares to us (as your landlord).
Quite often, the total monthly cost of the mortgage and rent combined is less than renting a similar home privately. However, it may not be less than the rent you currently pay, and the scheme does not offer any discount on the value of your home.
To be eligible, you need to have lived in a new build home which was built under the affordable homes programme for at least 12 months.
Eligibility
In addition to being a Samphire Homes tenant and living in a home built under the affordable homes programme, to be eligible for the Right to Shared Ownership, you must:
- Have lived in your current home for at least 12 months
- Have been a tenant of social and/or affordable housing for at least three years (this doesn’t need to three years in a row or with the same landlord)
- Satisfy all of the usual eligibility criteria for the Shared Ownership scheme, including its income threshold (a gross annual household income of £80,000 or less).
The new scheme doesn’t apply to homes in remote rural areas, or specialist homes for older people or disabled people but you can find further details about this the government website.
We're here to help
We’re here to offer you advice on how to complete your application, whether the scheme is right for you, how much it may cost and your eligibility.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Righttobuy@flagship-group.co.uk and we’ll be happy to help or get in touch using the link below.