Your discount can be your deposit.
Right to Buy lets eligible council tenants buy their home at a discount — and many lenders accept that discount in place of a cash deposit, making ownership unusually accessible.
How Right to Buy works
Eligible council tenants in England can buy the home they rent at a discount linked to how long they’ve been a public-sector tenant. Crucially, many lenders treat that discount as your deposit — lending against the property’s full value while you pay the discounted price — so you may need little or no cash deposit of your own.
Why it suits contractors
The barrier to ownership is usually the deposit. Right to Buy can remove it, leaving income as the main hurdle — and that’s exactly where we help, applying contract-based underwriting to your day rate so your mortgage reflects what you really earn.
What to check before you start
- Eligibility — your tenancy type and how long you’ve been a public-sector tenant.
- Your discount — the amount depends on current rules, which have been reformed.
- Resale conditions — selling within a set period can mean repaying some discount.
- Buy your council home at a discount based on tenancy length.
- The discount can replace much or all of a cash deposit.
- You still need a mortgage your income supports — we assess on day rate.
- Scheme rules have changed; we confirm your current discount and eligibility.
Right to Buy applies in England and has been reformed, including to maximum discounts and qualifying periods; rules differ in other UK nations and continue to change. Specific discount figures are deliberately not stated here — we confirm the current position for your case. Last reviewed June 2026.
Right to Buy, answered
How does Right to Buy work?+
Eligible council tenants in England can buy the home they rent at a discount based on how long they’ve been a public-sector tenant. Many lenders accept that discount in place of much of a cash deposit, so you may need little or no deposit of your own — though you still need a mortgage for the discounted price.
Do I need a deposit for Right to Buy?+
Often not in cash. Lenders that support Right to Buy can treat the discount as your deposit, lending against the full (pre-discount) value while you pay the discounted price. Your income still has to support the mortgage, which is where contract-based assessment helps.
Have the Right to Buy rules changed?+
Yes — the scheme has been reformed, including changes to the maximum discount and to qualifying periods. Because the figures and eligibility have moved and may change again, we confirm the current rules and your specific discount before you proceed.
Can a contractor get a Right to Buy mortgage?+
Yes. The income assessment is the same as any purchase, so we apply contract-based underwriting to your day rate. Combined with the discount acting as deposit, Right to Buy can be one of the most accessible routes to ownership.