You can sell a home you bought from the Housing Executive or a housing association. But, you might have to pay back some of your discount.
Repaying the discount
You have to pay your discount back if
- you sell the property within 5 years of the date you bought it, and
- none of the exceptions apply.
You don't have to repay the discount if
- you’re selling the property to a family member
- you’re selling part of the property that you don’t live in (like the garage)
- a court has ordered you to sell the property to your former partner after divorce or separation
- the person who purchased the property gave it to you when they died and the purchase was more than 3 years ago
- the property is being sold because the owner has died (and no one has inherited the property).
Selling back to the Housing Executive or housing association
If you want to sell within 10 years of buying the property, you have to offer it to your old landlord first.
Your old landlord does not have to buy the property. They can check with other housing associations to see if any of them want to buy the property from you. They should do this as quickly as possible.
Selling a part-owned property
You have to give your landlord the chance to buy back your share of the property.
If the landlord does not want to buy back your share, you can sell the property on the open market. You have to give a portion of the selling price to your landlord. The amount you have to give depends on the percentage of the home they still own.
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