A government factsheet tells Right to Buy tenants to beat a deadline it cannot name. Miss it, and the maximum discount on offer drops from 70 percent of a home's value to 15.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
In short. On 3 November 2026 MHCLG published a factsheet telling Right to Buy tenants that to keep their claim under the current rules, they must submit the RTB1 form "before the Social Housing Bill gains Royal Assent", a date the factsheet itself calls "currently unknown" [1]. The Bill has already passed every Lords stage and reached Commons Report, with no further sitting date yet scheduled [3] [4]; the factsheet links to the claim form and to general guidance, but nowhere to the Bill's own progress page. Separately, the factsheet's own worked example gives a 12-year tenant a 7% discount under the new rules [1], below the 35% to 50% a tenant already qualifies for after three years under the scheme the government's own current guide describes, which tops out at 70% [2]. Two documented mistakes: four stars.
Right to Buy has let secure council and housing association tenants in England buy their home at a discount since 1980. The scheme has been cut back once already this decade: in November 2024, after a review of discounts raised in 2012, MHCLG lowered the maximum cash discount to a band of £16,000 to £38,000 depending on region [1]. A larger rewrite is now most of the way through Parliament. The Social Housing Bill [HL], sponsored jointly by the housing minister Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, was introduced in the Lords on 14 May 2026, cleared that House by 1 September, and reached the Commons the next day [3]. Its Public Bill Committee finished scrutiny on 3 November, the same day MHCLG issued this tenant-facing factsheet to explain what changes once the Bill becomes law [1] [4].
The claims, tested
| The factsheet's own words | What the government's other documents show | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| "The date upon which the Social Housing Bill will gain Royal Assent is currently unknown, but as of November 2026, the Bill is approaching its final stages of parliamentary passage" [1]. Tenants must submit the RTB1 claim form before that date to keep the existing rules | The Bill's parliamentary record confirms it has finished every Lords stage and the Commons Committee stage; its current stage, Commons Report, has no sitting date yet scheduled [3] [4]. The factsheet's only two outbound links go to the RTB1 claim form and to general Right to Buy guidance; neither links to the Bill's own progress page [1] | Tenants are told to beat a deadline the document admits it cannot date, and given no way inside the document to watch for it arriving |
| "This will mean that those who have been tenants for longest will get the largest discounts" under the new discount structure (5% at 10 years, rising 1% a year, capped at 15%). Worked example: a 12-year tenant gets a 7% discount [1] | The current scheme, as the government's own guide describes it, gives a 35% discount on a house (50% on a flat) after three years, rising to a maximum of 70% on either [2] | True only inside the new regime's own ladder. It does not say that the new ceiling, 15%, sits below the current scheme's starting point, 35% to 50%, or that its own 12-year example scores lower than a tenant qualifies for today after three years |
A ladder that starts below where the old one ended
The factsheet frames the new discount structure as rewarding loyalty: start at 5% once a tenant reaches the new ten-year qualifying period, add 1% for every extra year, cap the whole thing at 15% of the property's value or the regional cash limit, whichever is lower [1]. "This will mean that those who have been tenants for longest will get the largest discounts," it says, and offers a worked example: a tenant of 12 years gets a 7% discount [1].
That framing is true as far as it goes, but it describes the new regime entirely on its own terms. The government's current, and still live, guide to the scheme, "Your right to buy your home: a guide", last updated 8 April 2026, sets out what a tenant gets today: a 35% discount on a house after three years as a public sector tenant, rising by 1% a year after year five to a maximum of 70%; 50% on a flat after three years, rising by 2% a year to the same 70% ceiling, both subject to the regional cash cap [2]. The guide's own glossary puts it plainly: "If you buy under the Right to Buy, you will get a discount on the market value of a flat of between 50% and 70%. On a house the discount ranges from 35% to 70%" [2]. The new regime's ceiling, 15%, sits below the current regime's floor.
The guide's own worked example makes the gap concrete. It prices a £120,000 house in the West Midlands for a tenant of ten years: an eligible 40% discount, capped by the region's £26,000 cash maximum, bringing the price down to £94,000 [2]. Apply the new factsheet's own starting rate, 5% at ten years, to that same £120,000 house: the discount falls from £26,000 to £6,000, for the same ten years served. The factsheet does not make this comparison. It presents the new ladder as a reward for long service without saying that the new reward, at every rung, is worth less than tenants can claim under the scheme it replaces.
An unknown deadline, and no way to watch for it
The factsheet is explicit that applying under today's rules requires beating a deadline it cannot name: "To have your Right to Buy application considered under the existing rules, you will need to make an application to your landlord using the Notice claiming the Right to Buy (RTB1 form) before the Social Housing Bill gains Royal Assent. The date upon which the Social Housing Bill will gain Royal Assent is currently unknown, but as of November 2026, the Bill is approaching its final stages of parliamentary passage" [1].
UK Parliament's own bill tracker shows what "approaching its final stages" means in practice. The Social Housing Bill [HL] passed first reading in the Lords on 14 May 2026, second reading on 1 June, Committee stage on 15 and 17 June, Report stage on 20 July and third reading on 1 September. It had its Commons first reading the next day, second reading on 10 September, and Committee stage sittings on 27 and 29 October and 3 November [4]. Its current stage is Commons Report, and no sitting date for that stage has yet been scheduled [3]. After Report, the Bill still needs a Commons third reading and, since it originated in the Lords, a further stage for that House to consider any Commons amendments, before Royal Assent can follow [4].
None of that detail, or a link to find it, appears in the factsheet. Its only two outbound links go to the RTB1 claim form itself and to the general Right to Buy guidance hub; neither points to the Bill's progress page on bills.parliament.uk or to the Bills API record this piece cites [1]. A tenant who reads the factsheet exactly as published is told, correctly, that they are racing a clock. They are not told where to look to see how much time is left.
Two documented mistakes, four stars. (1) The factsheet's own discount worked example, a 12-year tenant receiving 7%, scores lower than the 35% to 50% a tenant already qualifies for after three years under the scheme the government's current guide describes, which reaches a maximum of 70%. The factsheet's "longest tenants get the largest discounts" framing is true only inside the new regime's own ladder, and does not disclose that the new ceiling sits below the old floor. (2) The factsheet tells tenants to submit their RTB1 claim before the Social Housing Bill gains Royal Assent, a date it says is "currently unknown", without linking anywhere to the Bill's own progress page, despite Parliament's own record showing the Bill has already passed every Lords stage and reached Commons Report with no sitting date yet set.
Credit where due
Several parts of this factsheet hold up well. It is honest, rather than falsely precise, about not knowing the Royal Assent date, instead of inventing a plausible-sounding one. The extended processing timescales for councils, RTB2 notices moving from four to eight weeks and Section 125 offer notices from eight to twelve or sixteen weeks, address a real administrative capacity problem rather than just adding delay for its own sake [1]. The sliding discount-repayment taper on early resale, full repayment within a year down to nothing after ten, is a reasonable and clearly explained anti-profiteering measure. And the Right to Acquire discount for housing association tenants, between £9,000 and £16,000, is left untouched by this reform, a choice the factsheet could have buried but states plainly [1]. The general Right to Buy guidance hub, the second of the factsheet's two outbound links, does at least banner the reform correctly: any tenant who lands there first is told "Right to Buy is changing" and pointed straight back to this factsheet, rather than left on a page that ignores the reform entirely [5].
Verdict
Four stars, from two documented mistakes. Both are omissions rather than invented figures: every number in this teardown comes from MHCLG's own current and incoming guidance. The factsheet correctly explains what the new scheme will do once it is law. It does not help a tenant work out how urgently to act, because it gives no way to track the Bill it depends on, and it does not help a tenant weigh what they stand to lose, because it never sets its new discount ladder against the one it replaces. Both gaps are simple enough to fix in the next revision, with nothing more than two added links and one added sentence.
Sources
- Right to Buy reforms: information for tenants, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, published 3 November 2026.
- Your right to buy your home: a guide, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, publication page last updated 8 April 2026.
- Social Housing Bill [HL], UK Parliament Bills API, bill record, current stage Commons Report.
- Social Housing Bill [HL], stages, UK Parliament Bills API.
- Right to Buy: buying your council home, GOV.UK guidance hub, banners through to the 3 November 2026 factsheet.