Updated: 11 / 11 /11
This note only applies to tenants who started their tenancies before 2nd March 2011. Tenants who started a new tenancy for the first time, or after a break, after 1st March 2011 (including via sole to joint tenancy changes, succession, assignation) do not have the right to buy.
What is Pressured Area Status (PAS)?
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 gave Scottish Ministers the power to grant any part of a Council area as ‘pressured’. The designation of Pressured Area Status (PAS) allows Council to suspend the right to buy for tenants living in the area who have Modernised Right to Buy entitlements. The purpose of PAS is to protect the amount of affordable rented housing in communities where there are large shortages to make sure that there are enough houses for people who need them.
The Highland Council was granted Pressured Area Status on 13 October 2010. This renewed the PAS designation which had been in place since 2005 and extended it to cover most of Highland. In August 2011 The Highland Council agreed to extend the length of the designation to the new maximum period.
Which communities are covered by the Pressured Area Status designation?
Since 13 October 2010, all of Highland’s communities are covered by the Pressured Area Status designation except for some communities in Caithness. In Caithness, only Thurso and its small neighbouring communities of Forss; Geise; Glengolly; Janetstown; Scrabster; and Weydale are covered by the Pressured Area Status designation.
In other words, tenants with modernised right to buy entitlements living in Wick and the other Caithness communities not mentioned above, still have the right to buy (unless they started their tenancy after 1st March 2011).
What is the effect of Pressured Area Status designation?
All tenants who have modernised right to buy entitlements living in the designated communties will have their right to buy their home suspended. It does not affect the right of tenants with the preserved (old) right to buy.
Any tenant who has started a new tenancy since 30 September 2002 (but before 2nd March 2011) and has modernised right to buy entitlements will be covered by Pressured Area Status. This includes those who:
- transfer from another council house or another registered social landlord;
- mutually exchange their home;
- succeed to their tenancy or have been assigned the tenancy.
It does not include tenants who have ‘succeeded’ to their tenancy due to a joint / sole tenancy change e.g. husband / wife / partner successions.
Council tenants who are still able to buy their home include:
- Tenants whose tenancy in their current home started before 30 September 2002.
- Tenants who don’t live in the designated area (i.e. Caithness tenants who are not living in Thurso; Forss; Geise; Glengolly; Janetstown; Scrabster; or Weydale) and whose tenancy started before 2 March 2011.
How long does the suspension last?
Right to Buy suspension lasts whilst the area remains a Pressured Area.
As the Council can continue to apply Pressured Area Status every 10 years, if certain criteria are met (including consultation), it is not possible to say when the suspension will end.
The current designation lasts until October 2020. After which, The Council can then extend it again. If an extension is approved in 2020, it is likely that the designation will be in place for another 10 years (the maximum period of each designation) or until the Council decides not to have Pressured Area Status.
If the Council does not apply the designation again (e.g. because there are no longer affordable housing shortages in communities) then the current suspension will last until October 2020.
The extension to a 10 year designation was approved by the Highland Council Housing & Social Work Committee in August 2011.
I currently live in an area that has been designated as a pressured area. Can I still buy my council house?
This will depend on when you became a tenant and the right to buy entitlement you have. That is, if you have the modernised right to buy or not.
- If you were living in your current house as the tenant before 30 September 2002 your rights stay the same and you can apply to buy your home.
- If your tenancy began on or after 30 September 2002 and before 2nd March 2011, you will have the modernised right to buy and your right to buy will be suspended whilst the area you live in remains a pressured area.
If my right to buy my house is suspended, will I still be able to count this time towards qualifying to buy and building up discount?
Yes. During this time you will not lose out on building up time towards qualifying for right to buy and discount.
I transferred my tenancy into a pressured area before the area was given Pressured Area Status. Can I buy my council house?
If you started this tenancy before 30 September 2002 your rights remain the same. You will be eligible to buy your home. If you started it on or after 30 September 2002 (but before 2nd March 2011) and you have modernised right to buy entitlements, your right to buy will be suspended whilst the area you live in remains a pressured area.
I don’t currently live in a pressured area, but I am looking for a transfer of tenancy into a pressured area. Will I still be able to buy my council house?
No. If you transfer into a pressured area, your right to buy will be suspended. This will last whilst the area you live in remains a pressured area.
I am moving into a pressured area through a mutual exchange with another tenant. Can I still buy my council house?
No. If you move into a pressured area through a mutual exchange your right to buy will be suspended whilst the area you live in remains a pressured area.
I live in a pressured area and succeeded the tenancy to my home. Can I buy my council house?
This will depend on the type of succession and when you succeeded to it. If you succeed to it before 30 September 2002 and you were a spouse or co-habitee, you will have the original right to buy.
Family members and carers not on the joint tenancy, who succeed before 30 September 2002, succeed to the modernised right to buy and the suspension will apply. This suspension will last whilst the area you live in remains a pressured area.
I live in a pressured area and I have been assigned the tenancy of the house I am living in. Can I buy my council house?
No. If you become a new tenant through assignation on or after 30 September 2002 (but before 2nd March 2011), you will have modernised right to buy and your right to buy will be suspended whilst the area you live in remains a pressured area. Original right to buy entitlements cannot be passed on through assignation.
I am planning to change my tenancy from a sole to a joint tenancy – what affect will this have?
This can be complicated. Sole tenancies becoming joint ones will not generally create a new tenancy and so should be treated accordingly. However applicants for sole to joint tenancies should be aware that if it becomes a sole tenancy again, Right to Buy (RTB) entitlements will be determined by who the remaining tenant is and when they started the tenancy i.e. is that person entitled to old (preserved); new (modernised) RTB or no RTB. You may wish to seek independent advice.
I have been offered and refused a house in a pressured area. Will this be counted as one of my offers of housing?
Yes. If you refuse a house simply because it is in a pressured area, we will consider that you have refused a reasonable offer of housing.
How are tenants given information about Pressured Area Status?
Council staff tell new tenants, including those who are transferring or are succeeding to a tenancy, about right to buy during the sign up. Tenants who are moving through a mutual exchange are provided with information in the forms and by Council staff. If you have any questions or are unclear about whether Pressured Area Status will apply to you, please speak to your local Housing or Service Centre / Point Officer.
Tenants were also given consulted and informed through a variety of ways including:
- Press releases.
- Articles in local and national papers.
- Views were sought from tenants, tenants groups and tenants on the Register of Interested Tenants.
- On-going articles in the Council Tenants’ Newsletter.
Why is the Council doing this?
Using Pressured Area Status is one of the many different ways that the Council is tackling Highland’s serious affordable housing shortages and housing pressures. By suspending the Right to Buy we are preventing the further loss of social rented housing. It helps to make sure that affordable housing is available to let in communities where there are shortages of housing.
The designations resulted from applications by the Highland Council to the Scottish Government which demonstrated that the legal criteria were met. These are: that the need for social rented housing in the area is, or is likely to be, substantially in excess of the social rented housing; and this situation is likely to be exacerbated by tenants in the area exercising their Right to Buy.
Applications and proposals were approved by Highland Council Elected Members. Each proposal involved consultation. Council reports, including consultation details, are publicly available on the Council’s website in the Committee Papers.
How can tenants who want to become home owners still do so?
There are a number of different ways that we help tenants to become home owners. For example, tenants can buy shared equity low cost housing on favourable terms from Highland’s housing associations. More information about low cost home ownership (LCHO) options is available from the Housing Options Manual on the Council’s website. Alternatively please speak to your local housing officer or housing association. A leaflet on the different housing options is also available from all Council offices.
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