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Street Purchases

There are more people in need of affordable housing in our borough than there are homes available. Ashford is no different to any other borough in terms of demand outweighing supply. We are trying to address the shortfall of affordable homes through new, innovative methods.

One of those methods is buying ‘street properties’ from the open market. These may be homes formerly sold under the right to buy process. We can buy these properties back because we know the homes and they may be in areas where we already have housing that we manage. They may also be homes that have never been ‘affordable housing’ that we are now buying for that purpose.

That’s why we’re asking if you have a home that you’d like to sell – whether it is a former right-to-buy home or not. Let us know if you’re looking to sell your home and we will consider it as an option.  We are currently particularly interested in 1 bedroom properties or 3 bedroom houses as well as larger family sized accommodation.

Please fill in the form below to register your interest in selling your property.  Please note, if your home is currently tenanted, we would be unlikely to purchase it.

If we are interested in viewing your property we will come back to you within two weeks of the date you submit the form.  Unfortunately due to the level of interest this scheme generates if you do not hear from us within this timeframe please assume we are not able to process your request.

Homes brought back into use by us or have been used to enable us to redevelop bigger schemes such as The Poplars.  Since 2018 up until 5 October 2023, we have purchased 130 properties. 10 were purchased in 2018-2019 and 43 in 2019-2020.

In October 2019 the council’s cabinet members gave us permission to spend £15m for each of the next four financial years on street purchase homes. Our aim was to purchase 50 more properties in 2020-2021 and a further 75 in 2021-2022. Unfortunately due to the impact of Covid-19 those targets were not met; there were 46  purchases in 2020-2021, 24 in 2021-2022 and 5 in 2022-2023. 

We are also building new homes too and have delivered 322 since 2011. These homes are for people of all ages, including stunning dementia-friendly accommodation in South Ashford and Tenterden. Please view our developing affordable housing page for more information.

What is your name?
What is your postal address?
Please provide a contact email address
Please provide a contact telephone number
Please indicate the type of property you are enquiring about
How many bedrooms does the property have?
Let us know if the property has previously been owned by the council

Data Protection Statement

Data Protection – Ashford Borough Council is the data controller for the personal information collected in this street purchase enquiry form. Your information will be used to process your enquiry and any subsequent purchase agreement. The collection and processing of your data is being conducted relying upon a contractual legal basis. Your data may be shared with other departments within the council for the purpose of improving services, keeping records up-to-date and for the protection of the public funds.

For more information about your data protection rights please see the Council’s data protection pages which can be found at www.ashford.gov.uk or contact the Data Protection Officer at The Data Protection Officer, Ashford Borough Council, Civic Centre, Tannery Lane, Ashford TN23 1PL.

Please tick this box to consent to the above use of your data

Frequently Asked Questions

+ Why are you buying houses?

We’re working hard to make sure there are enough affordable homes in the borough for everyone who needs them. We currently have around 1,670 households on our waiting list for property and this is a way in which we can add to our property stock relatively quickly. If we could purchase 75 homes a year between now and 2048, we would take our stock levels from around 4,500 to 7,000.

+ What price do you pay?

Should we be interested in purchasing your property, we have an independent valuer who would assess the price of your home and that is what we would offer you. We cannot pay over and above this as it is taxpayers’ money and so cannot pay over the market value.

+ Why would I sell to the council?

We are effectively a cash buyer so you won’t be involved in a chain by selling to us.

+ How long does it take?

We use our own legal solicitors and so we would hope to conclude all purchases quickly. However, there is no guide time as to specifically how long this can take. We will go as quickly but efficiently as we can.

+ What is the process?

If we think we may be interested in buying your home we will send one of our surveyors out to view your home and then we will get it valued by our independent valuer. Then we will offer you the price. You can either accept the offer or refuse the offer and then choose to sell it on the open market through an estate agent. If you choose to accept our offer we will instruct our solicitor straight away and then we’ll complete the transaction as soon as we can.

+ Will the council buy my home?

Complete the form above and we will then come back to you within two weeks of the date you submit the form if we are interested in coming to view the property.
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