Sell or re-mortgage a leasehold property
If you are a leaseholder you can sell your property, but certain terms will apply:
- You will need to repay a part of your Right To Buy discount. This is if you sell your property within five years.
- You must first offer your property back to us if you wish to sell it within 10 years of sale. This is called the Right of First Refusal.
First, you must offer us the right to buy your property. You must do this before making any sale on the open market. It's very important to follow this process.
A new owner will not be able to register their ownership without our written consent. They need this to show that the correct process was followed.
Send a notice to London Borough of Harrow
To send us an offer notice, you should state the following:
- That you wish to dispose of the property
- That there is a covenant requiring you to first offer the property back to Harrow Council
- Provide the property’s full address
- State the property type (house, flat etc.)
- Specify the number of bedrooms
- Give details of heating system
- Specify any improvements or changes made since the sale. Including any adaptations.
Send your offer notice by email to: leaseholdandrtbservices@harrow.gov.uk.
What happens next?
We will write back to confirm receipt of your notice. Within eight weeks, we will reply to you confirming if we will:
- Buy the property or
- Nominate a registered provider to buy the property or
- Not buy the property.
In the case of options 1 or 2
We or a registered provider will buy back the home within 12 weeks of the date of the letter. Any discount monies owed will be repaid to London Borough of Harrow. This is an acceptance notice which must:
-
be in writing and
-
state that we (the council) are accepting the offer.
We will ask our nominated valuer to value the property. The parties must agree on the value. If we can't agree, the district valuer will decide. The district valuer’s fees will be met by the Government.
If we or the provider do not complete the sale within 12 weeks, you can sell your home on the open market. Any discount monies will still need to be repaid to London Borough of Harrow.
The process should be completed within 20 weeks of receipt of the offer notice.
In the case of option 3
If we or the registered provider do not wish to buy your property, you can sell it on the open market. The rules of Right of First Refusal will no longer apply.
This means that whoever buys the property does not have to offer it back to us when they come to sell it.
Any discounts that are applicable will need to be repaid to us. If you have not sold your property after 12 months, a new offer notice to us must be made in writing. This is if you still wish to sell your property.
Repayment of discount
Your solicitor will need to confirm the sale price of the property in writing. Our legal team will calculate the amount to be repaid. Once this discount is repaid we will draft a certificate.
Providing information to your solicitor
We can provide your solicitor with information about:
- major works
- service charges
- building insurance
- fire and asbestos assessments
- approval of any alterations etc.
An administration charge will apply for us to provide this.
When you sell your home your solicitor must serve a notice of transfer on the council. This confirms the details of the current and new owner(s) as well as the date of sale. We charge an administration fee for serving the notice.
Re-mortgaging an ex-council property
As a leaseholder, you can re-mortgage your home. Your lease requires you to tell us if you sell or re-mortgage your property. You must do this within one month. Our administration fees apply.