Stage 3 - Offer for sale

After the property has been valued we will send you the ’Landlord’s Offer Notice’, also known as the RTA3. The RTA3 Notice will be sent to you within eight weeks of the RTA2 Notice if you are buying a house or within 12 weeks if you are buying a flat.

The RTA3 Notice is one of the most important documents you will receive and you should read it carefully. It will tell you the value of the property, the purchase price to you after discount, any terms and conditions relating to the purchase of the property and structural defects noted by the valuer.

The pack includes a draft of the document which will hand over your home to you if you decide to go ahead and buy. If you are buying a house the document will be a transfer of freehold interest, if you are buying a flat the document will be a lease.

The offer pack also explains what you need to do next. Once you have your offer for sale you must decide what you want to do:

buy your home outright under the Right to Acquire;
consider appealing against the Landlord’s valuation; or
forget about buying your home and continue to pay rent.

If you decide to go ahead you should:

begin to make arrangements for your mortgage;
have a structural survey carried out (your mortgage lender may be able to arrange this for you); and
choose a solicitor to act for you in the legal process.

If you disagree with the valuation the offer pack will explain how you can appeal against the price to the District Valuer. The District Valuer is independent of the association; he is employed by the Inland Revenue. If you apply to the District Valuer for his opinion of value his decision will be binding even if it is higher than the association’s valuation.

If you decide that you don’t want to go ahead with buying let us know as soon as possible. We can then reinstate your home for full repairs and improvements.

You must reply to us within 12 weeks of receiving your RTA3 Notice, telling us what you are going to do. There is a ‘Notice of Intention’ form with the offer notice for you to complete and return. If you don’t contact us within 12 weeks you will get a reminder. If you still don’t write within another 28 days we will withdraw your application.

If you have returned the ‘Notice of Intention’ form to us indicating that you wish to proceed with buying your home but we do not hear anything further from you or your solicitor within 3 months of the date of the RTA3 Notice, we will send you two Notices telling you to complete the sale. If you do not answer within eight weeks of the second Notice we will withdraw your application.

Last modified 03/04/09