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Buying your home

You may wish to consider buying the lease of your current home. This page gives you introductory information about what is involved.

You can buy your home if:

  • You are a tenant of Kensington and Chelsea
  • You were a tenant before 18 January 2005, you must have been a council tenant for at least 2 years
  • You became a tenant after 18 January 2005, you will not be able to apply to buy your home until you have been a tenant for 5 years
  • Your home is your only or principal home
  • Your home is self contained (you do not share bathroom or kitchens)

You may not be entitled to buy your property:

  • If your property is “sheltered accommodation”
  • The property is occupied as part of your employment – for example caretaker.
  • A court has made a possession order which says you must leave your home
  • You are a bankrupt
  • if you are no longer a secure tenant

There are several stages you need to go through when you buy your home. Your first step is to complete a RTB1. You can get this form by contacting the TMO on 0800 137 111. Please speak to your housing officer if you need advice.

Below are some frequently asked questions home buying options:

What are my low cost home ownership options?

Kensington and Chelsea is the most expensive residential property market in the country for both renting and buying property. Affordable ownership offers a

number of schemes to help people buy property funded by the Government or made available by the Council.

What is shared ownership?

Shared ownership can offer a way of moving to alternative accommodation for those who are interested in owning their own home. It makes home ownership possible by allowing you to buy a 'stake' in your home - you take out a mortgage for just part of the full cost, for example 25%. You then pay rent on the remaining amount. This makes it possible to buy types of property that you might not otherwise be able to afford, or in areas that would otherwise be too expensive.

As a Council tenant you will normally be considered a priority for shared ownership.

What is Homebuy?

You can apply to the homebuy scheme for an interest-free loan to cover part of the purchase price of a property (normally 25%).

For further information and an application pack on Homebuy please call 020 8357 5000.

What help is there for Key Workers?

This is a national scheme to help key workers to buy a property. The scheme offers loans in a similar way to Homebuy, to key workers like teachers, nurses and members of the emergency services. You will need to register on the Council’s affordable ownership register.

Please contact Notting Hill Home ownership on 020 8357 4444.

Further information

For all the options listed above you will need to be registered on the Council’s Affordable Ownership Register. For information on low cost home ownership contact the Affordable Ownership Officer on 0207 361 3341.

You can also get more information and registration forms from the Council’s website.

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