We are buying properties

• The council can only buy properties with vacant possession. This means that you and anyone living in the property must move out and remove all possessions from the property on or before the date that the sale to the council completes. We will agree the date of completion with you in advance, giving you as much notice as possible to give you time to arrange this.
• Our buy-back programme is not designed to make anyone homeless. You will need to provide evidence and declare that as a result of purchase neither you nor any current occupiers of the property will be made homeless and will not be seeking housing or have sought assistance or rehousing from the council.
• If your property is tenanted or you wish to remain in the property after the purchase is complete, the council cannot proceed.
• On completion you must provide to the council, the full unencumbered freehold title and vacant possession of the property. This means that your property must be free from all charges (including mortgages and right to buy discount) and any leases or tenancies or other equitable interests in the property.
• If we agree to purchase your home, you will need to provide the council with full contact details of the solicitor who will act for you in the sale. Your solicitor will advise you of the conveyancing process and associated timescales.
• You will be liable for your own moving costs, including legal fees. For leasehold properties, you must pay any service charges due up to the date of completion before the sale can go through.
• You will be responsible for removing all freestanding furniture, appliances and possessions from the inside and outside property before the purchase completes. If they are not removed, we will charge you for the cost of removing them.
• We will endeavour to complete a purchase in the shortest possible time; however, we are not able to forecast an average time that a typical purchase may take.
• You must be the registered owner of the property. If you are dealing with the sale on behalf of a legal estate, you must provide the council with evidence of this. Your solicitor will be able to give you further advice.
• The Development Team in Homes and Neighbourhoods, Kirklees Council will remain your main point of contact during the purchase of your property.
• If your home is a former council property, special requirements may apply to you. Please see the section below headed Special requirements for ex-council homes.

1. Following your initial enquiry; we will ask you to obtain your own valuation to ascertain whether we can afford to purchase back your property before entering the formal buyback scheme. Most estate agents will do this free of charge with no obligation to sell through them.
2. If you are eligible for the buyback scheme and the council is interested in buying your home, we will arrange for our Building, Gas and Electrical surveyor to visit to carry out an initial inspection of the property. We will make access arrangements through your agent if you are using one, or directly with you if not.
3. You will need to let us have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for your property in order to proceed with the sale. The offer we give you will take into consideration any cost of works to bring your property up to Kirklees lettable standard. You can check GOV UK: Find an energy certificate to see if a current certificate is available. If not, a domestic energy assessor will be able to survey your home and produce an EPC. You should expect to pay no more than £75 for this service.
4. Upon receipt of the surveyors' inspection report we will contact you or your agent (if applicable) to make a conditional offer subject to contract, further surveys, if necessary, a property valuation and Council approval. The council will make you an offer taking into account the cost of any work it needs to do to the property to bring it up to Kirklees lettable standard and ensuring the council gets an acceptable return on its investment. You are not bound to accept the council's offer, even if your home is subject to the right of first refusal.
5. If you accept our offer, we will arrange for a market valuation to be carried out.
6. If the valuation is lower than the price we have offered, we will need to reduce our offer to the figure in the valuation report. You can choose whether to accept the revised offer.
7. If you accept the offer you will need to appoint a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to act for you in the sale. We will instruct the council's legal team to act for us in the purchase. We will liaise with the council's solicitor throughout the legal process, and keep you informed of progress.

Unlike traditional purchasing exchange and completion will typically take place on the same date.

If your home was sold under the Right to Buy within the last 10 years, it is subject to the right of first refusal. This means that legally, you must offer it for sale to the council before you can sell it on the open market. You can find out when your home was originally sold under the Right to Buy by phoning the Right to Buy team on 01484 223288 or contact Right to Buy. Note that the right of first refusal applies for 10 years regardless of whether you bought your property directly from the council, or whether you bought it from a private owner.

If the right of first refusal applies and we cannot agree a purchase price with you, we may instruct the District Valuer to provide a market valuation. If the council make an offer at the District Valuer's valuation and you decline it, the council may not allow you to sell your property privately until the 10-year period expires. If the council does not offer you market value as determined by the District Valuer, it will allow you to sell your property privately.

If your home was sold under the Right to Buy more than 10 years ago, you are free to sell it to any buyer, however you can still offer it to the council if you wish. The council can usually complete purchases quicker than a private buyer and you will save on estate agents' fees by selling to us.

If you bought your home from the council at a discount less than 5 years ago, you would need to repay some or all the discount when you sell it. This is called the discount repayment period.

The amount of discount to be repaid is a percentage of the resale value of the property, disregarding the value of any improvements that you have made to it, for example:

• If your home was valued at £70,000 at the time you bought it from your landlord,
• and you received a discount of £28,000 (so you paid £42,000),
• the discount you received was 40%
• If your home is now valued at £80,000, and you want to sell it during the second year of the 5-year repayment period, you would have to repay £25,600 back to the council.

This amount is calculated like this:

• 40% of £80,000 is £32,000.
• 4/5 of £32,000 is £25,600. (£32,000/5X4 remaining years to repay)