England rules for applications made on or after 21 November 2024.
| If you sell in | Repay | Amount at today's value |
|---|
Estimate only, check with your landlord's offer notice. Caps and percentages from GOV.UK for England. Scotland and Wales have ended Right to Buy; Northern Ireland uses the House Sales Scheme. Figures checked October 2026.
This Right to Buy discount calculator shows council and housing association tenants in England how much discount they can get on their home in 2026, using the percentage rules and the regional cash caps that apply to applications made since 21 November 2024. Enter your valuation, house or flat, years as a tenant and area to see the discount, the price you would pay and what you would repay if you sold within five years.
Quick answer: Houses get 35% off after 3 years and flats 50%, rising 1% or 2% a year after year 5 to 70%, but the cash cap usually decides the result: £16,000 to £38,000 depending on area. The Right to Buy discount calculator shows £26,000 for a £150,000 North West house.
In This Guide
What Is the Right to Buy Discount?
The Right to Buy discount is a reduction in the price a secure council tenant in England pays to buy their home, based on how long they have been a public sector tenant, whether the home is a house or a flat, and where it is.
The formula in plain words: start with 35% for a house or 50% for a flat once you have 3 years as a public sector tenant. After 5 years, add 1% a year for a house or 2% a year for a flat, up to 70%. Multiply that by the valuation, then compare it with the cash cap for your area and take the lower figure. Finally, the price cannot fall below what your landlord has spent building or maintaining the home in the last 30 years, which is called the cost floor.
How to Use the Right to Buy Discount Calculator
Step 1: Enter the Valuation and Property Type
Use the valuation in your landlord's offer notice if you have one, or a realistic local sale price if you are planning ahead. Choose flat for maisonettes as well as flats, because they get the higher starting rate.
Step 2: Enter Your Years as a Tenant
Count every full year you have rented from a public sector landlord, such as a council, housing association or NHS trust, even if the years were in different homes or had gaps between them.
Step 3: Choose Your Area and Cost Floor
Pick the region, or the named council area if yours has its own cap. If your offer notice shows costs your landlord spent on the home, enter them so the Right to Buy discount calculator can apply the cost floor; otherwise leave it at 0.
Step 4: Read Your Result
The headline is your discount and the line beneath explains what limited it. The stats show the price, the effective discount as a share of the value, the percentage before the cap and a guide figure under the reforms now going through Parliament. The table shows how much you would repay if you sold in each of the first five years.
How Much Is the Right to Buy Discount in 2026?
In 2026 the maximum Right to Buy discount in England is between £16,000 and £38,000 depending on the area, or 70% of the value if that is lower. Because these caps are small next to most valuations, almost every tenant now gets the cap rather than the percentage.
Worked example: Denise has rented her council house in Sunderland for 12 years and it is valued at £120,000. Her percentage is 35% plus 7%, which is 42%, worth £50,400 on paper. The North East cap is £22,000, so her discount is £22,000 and she pays £98,000, an effective discount of 18.3%. A tenant in an inner London flat worth £350,000 with 8 years' tenancy would reach 56%, or £196,000, but receives the London cap of £16,000, just 4.6% of the value.
| Area of England | Maximum cash discount |
|---|---|
| North East | £22,000 |
| North West | £26,000 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £24,000 |
| East Midlands | £24,000 |
| West Midlands | £26,000 |
| East of England (Watford £16,000) | £34,000 |
| South East (£16,000 in Reading, West Berkshire, Hart, Oxford, Vale of White Horse, Tonbridge and Malling, Epsom and Ewell, Reigate and Banstead) | £38,000 |
| South West | £30,000 |
| London (£38,000 in Barking and Dagenham and Havering) | £16,000 |
Every figure in the table, and in the Right to Buy discount calculator, comes from the official GOV.UK Right to Buy discounts page, which also confirms that applications made before 21 November 2024 kept the old maximums of £136,400 in London and £102,400 elsewhere. If you need to borrow the rest, the loan calculator shows the monthly cost of a loan at any rate you are quoted.
Do You Have to Pay Back the Right to Buy Discount?
You pay back some or all of the discount if you sell within 5 years: all of it in year 1, then 80%, 60%, 40% and 20% in years 2 to 5. The amount is worked out on the sale value at the time, so a rising price means a larger repayment than the table shows at today's value.
A second rule applies for longer. For 10 years after buying, the GOV.UK rules on selling a Right to Buy home also require you to offer it first to your former landlord or another social landlord, who have 8 weeks to respond. Once you own the home, the mortgage overpayment calculator shows how quickly extra payments would clear the loan you took out to buy it.
Is Right to Buy Changing?
Yes, but not yet. Plans to raise the qualifying period from 3 to 10 years and to change the discount to 5% of the value, rising 1% a year to 15% or the cash cap, were confirmed in the government's Right to Buy overhaul announcement of 28 April 2026, together with 35 years of protection for new social homes. These changes need new legislation, so today's rules still apply until Parliament passes it. The Right to Buy discount calculator shows a guide figure under the proposed rules so you can see what is at stake if you wait.
</>Embed this calculator on your website
Add the free Right to Buy Discount Calculator to your own site or blog. Copy the code below and paste it into an HTML block. It resizes itself and works on phones.
How we checked this tool: the Tools Veria Editorial Team built this tool by hand, checked it against the official rules or published standards where they apply, and tested it against worked examples. Results are estimates for planning, not personal financial or tax advice. Read our editorial policy and disclaimer, or report an error.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the Right to Buy discount in England in 2026?
Houses get 35% after 3 years and flats 50%, rising each year after year 5 up to 70%. The cash cap then applies: £16,000 to £38,000 depending on the area, so most tenants receive the cap.
What is the maximum Right to Buy discount in London?
The maximum is £16,000 in most London boroughs, or £38,000 in Barking and Dagenham and Havering, for applications made on or after 21 November 2024. Earlier applications kept the old £136,400 London maximum.
How many years do I need to be a tenant for Right to Buy?
You need 3 years with a public sector landlord, such as a council, housing association or NHS trust. The years do not have to be continuous or in the same home under the current rules.
Do I have to pay back my Right to Buy discount if I sell?
Yes, if you sell within 5 years. You repay 100% of the discount in year 1, then 80%, 60%, 40% and 20%, based on the sale value. After 5 years you keep the full discount.
What is the Right to Buy cost floor?
The cost floor stops the price falling below what your landlord spent building or maintaining the home in the last 30 years. If that spending is £140,000 on a £150,000 home, your discount cannot exceed £10,000.
Can I use Right to Buy in Scotland or Wales?
No. Right to Buy has been abolished in Scotland and in Wales, so this calculator covers England only. In Northern Ireland, Housing Executive tenants use the House Sales Scheme, which has its own rules and discounts.