6. Selling Your Home or Subletting
This page explains what you need to do if you sell your leasehold home or choose to sublet it, including any conditions linked to Right to Buy discounts and your ongoing responsibilities as a leaseholder.
Repaying a Right to Buy discount
If you sell your home within:
- 5 years of buying it under the Right to Buy scheme, or
- 3 years if you purchased your home before 18 January 2005,
you may need to repay some or all of the discount you received.
The amount you must repay depends on how long you have owned the property.
Do I have to offer to sell my home back to the council?
You may need to do this if:
- you bought your home under the Right to Buy scheme on or after 18 January 2005, and
- you want to sell or otherwise dispose of it within 10 years of purchase
In these circumstances, you must first offer to sell the property to:
- your former landlord, or
- another social landlord in your area
The offer must be at full market value, agreed between the parties or, if agreement cannot be reached, determined by the District Valuer.
If the offer is not accepted within 8 weeks, you are free to sell the property on the open market.
What to do before you sell
Before completing a sale, you must:
- pay any outstanding service charges
- settle any costs relating to major works
You are also responsible for arranging final payments for services such as Council Tax, water, gas, electricity and telephone accounts.
Assigning your lease (selling your property)
You do not need our permission to sell your property. However, your lease requires that we are formally notified of the sale.
Within 21 days of completion, the buyer’s solicitor must serve a notice of assignment on Exeter City Council’s Legal Services team. A fee is payable for registering this notice.
This notice allows us to update our records. If it is not served, you may remain liable for charges relating to the property.
Subletting your property
You may sublet your property, but you remain responsible as the leaseholder for:
- ensuring anyone living in the property complies with the covenants of your lease
- paying all service charges
If you sublet your home, you must notify our Legal Services team in writing and provide:
- your contact details for future correspondence
- details for invoicing
A registration fee applies.
If you have a mortgage, you should also check whether your lender allows subletting.
Subletting may affect the building insurance premium and the cover provided. You are also legally required to ensure that any gas appliances are serviced annually by a qualified engineer. All maintenance and servicing must be carried out by appropriately trained professionals.