According to research from Pepper Money and YouGov, which conducted a survey of over 6,000 adults in England and Wales, around 11% currently rent their home for a local authority or housing association.

Within that number, over half said that they would consider buying the property in which they live in using the Right to Buy scheme.

The Right to Buy scheme allows eligible council and housing association to buy their home with a discount of up to £127,940 in London, or £96,010 outside London.

To be eligible, it has to the only or main home, self-contained, the tenant has to be secure, and the tenant would need to have a public sector landlord for three years, although this does not have to be consecutive.

Since the start of the scheme in 1980 until 31 March 2022, there have been over two million sales to tenants through the Right to Buy scheme and in 2021 to 2022, there were 10,878 sales.

Right to Buy ‘an affordable opportunity to step on the ladder’

Ryan Brailsford, director of business development at Pepper Money, said: “Home ownership remains an aspiration for many people living in rented accommodation, and Right to Buy provides an affordable opportunity to step onto the ladder for those who currently rent their home from a local authority or housing association.

“At Pepper Money, we are committed to helping hopeful homeowners and our Affordable Home Ownership proposition supports several schemes to promote greater financial inclusion to a more diverse range of customers.”

He added: “Our research shows the huge opportunity there is to help people in this space and we look forward to launching into Right to Buy very soon to provide options for those customers whose circumstances mean they are not properly served by the high street because of the way in which they earn their income or their credit history.”