Right to Buy Discount Calculator

How much is the Right to Buy discount in 2026?

The discount you qualify for depends on three things: how long you have been a public sector tenant, whether you are buying a house or a flat, and the maximum cash discount that applies in your region. The calculator above uses the rules currently in force, including the regional cash caps introduced on 21 November 2024.

• Houses – a 35% discount after three to five years as a public sector tenant, then an extra 1% for every additional year.
• Flats – a 50% discount after three to five years, then an extra 2% for every additional year.
• Overall limit – your discount is capped at whichever is lower: 70% of the property’s value, or the maximum cash discount for your region.

Because the cash caps are relatively low, most applicants reach their regional maximum long before they reach the percentage maximum. A tenant of 10 years buying a £200,000 house in the South West qualifies for 40% on paper, but the South West cap of £30,000 applies instead – an effective discount of 15%.

Maximum Right to Buy cash discount by region

A small number of individual local authorities sit outside their regional figure, so your landlord will confirm the exact cap that applies to your home. Money your landlord has spent on the property over the last 30 years can also reduce the discount you receive.

Right to Buy changes confirmed in 2026

On 28 April 2026 the Government confirmed a major overhaul of Right to Buy in England. The reforms will be introduced when Parliamentary time allows, so they are not yet law and the figures above still apply to applications made today. Once the changes take effect:

• the minimum qualifying period will rise from three years to ten years as a public sector tenant;
• discounts will start at 5% of the property value and rise by 1% a year, up to a maximum of 15% or the regional cash cap, whichever is lower;
• newly built social homes will be exempt from Right to Buy for 35 years after they are built.

If you already qualify under the current rules, applying before the reforms commence would keep you on the existing, more generous discount scale. If you are close to the three-year mark, it is worth understanding how the timing could affect what you pay.

How your discount affects your mortgage

Lenders treat the Right to Buy discount as your deposit, which is why many tenants can buy their home without putting down savings of their own. Not every lender offers Right to Buy mortgages, and the choice narrows further if you have adverse credit or a non-standard income.

Knowing your discount is only half of the picture. The discount acts as your deposit, but a lender still has to agree to lend against a discounted purchase, and only part of the market will. Our Right to Buy mortgage brokers work with over 90 lenders and can tell you which of them would consider your circumstances, including if you have adverse credit or a non-standard income, before you commit to buying.

Once you know your discount, use our Right to Buy mortgage calculator to see how much you could borrow, or read our guide to Right to Buy mortgages for a full explanation of how the process works.

Last reviewed 13 August 2026 against the Government’s published Right to Buy guidance. Figures apply to England only.