The Right to Buy scheme gives qualifying council and housing association tenants the right to purchase their home at a substantial discount. The question of whether a son or other family member can assist with or effectively carry out the purchase on behalf of a tenant involves several important distinctions that affect what is and is not permitted under the scheme rules.

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Who Can Apply Under Right to Buy

To apply under Right to Buy, you must be a secure tenant of the property, the property must be your only or main home, and you must have spent at least three years as a public sector tenant. The tenant or tenants named on the tenancy agreement are the eligible applicants.

A family member who has been living with you in the property can join the application as a joint purchaser, provided they have lived there as their only or main home throughout the preceding twelve months. This would include a son who actually lives in the property with you. The joint purchaser shares ownership of the purchased property and is jointly responsible for the mortgage if one is needed.

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Can a Son Who Does Not Live There Buy the Property

A son who does not live at the property cannot join the Right to Buy application as a joint purchaser, because the joining requirement is that the family member must have lived in the property as their home for at least twelve months before the application. A son who lives elsewhere cannot satisfy this condition.

In some circumstances, a son who does not meet the residency requirement can assist financially with the purchase by providing funds toward the deposit or purchase price, but the legal ownership of the property must remain with the qualifying tenant or include a qualifying joint purchaser. The son cannot simply buy the property in his own name using the Right to Buy discount, because only the qualifying tenant has the right to that discount.

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What Happens After Purchase

Once you have purchased the property under Right to Buy, you are free to do with it as you choose, subject to the resale restrictions that apply within the first five years. If you sell within five years, you are required to repay some or all of the discount on a sliding scale. After five years, the property can be sold freely without any clawback.

After the discount repayment period has expired, you can sell or transfer the property to your son or any other party without restriction. Some parents buy their council house under Right to Buy with the long-term intention of leaving it to their children, and this is entirely legitimate provided the purchase itself was carried out correctly.

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Mortgage Assistance from a Son

If you qualify for Right to Buy but cannot obtain a mortgage independently, your son can act as a guarantor for the mortgage in some cases, providing the lender with additional security. However, the property title and the mortgage would still be in your name, and your son's involvement would be as guarantor rather than as owner. Specialist later-life or Right to Buy mortgage advisers can help identify lenders who will accept family guarantors.

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Summary

Your son can join your Right to Buy application as a joint purchaser if he has lived at the property as his main home for at least twelve months. If he does not live there, he cannot be part of the formal Right to Buy application, but he may be able to assist financially while the legal ownership remains with you as the qualifying tenant. Arrangements designed to allow someone who has not lived in the property to benefit from the Right to Buy discount are treated as scheme abuse and can result in the discount being recovered. After the five-year resale restriction period, you can transfer the property to your son freely.