Mutual exchange: helping you find your perfect home match

If your home no longer meets your needs, we’re helping to make it easier for residents to find something more suitable with a mutual exchange.

If you’ve not heard the term before, it’s where two council or housing association tenants swap homes.

Across the UK there are thousands of residents signed up, looking to find someone to swap homes with.

A mutual exchange is handy if you live in a home and your needs change. It’s usually quicker than applying for a transfer because it opens the search up to other local authorities or affordable housing providers.

For example, one family might live in a two-bed terraced home with two children (a boy and a girl) who currently share a bedroom but are due to reach the age where they can no longer share. This family needs to find a bigger home with an additional bedroom.

Then on the other hand, one family may live in a three-bed semi-detached house, with two older children, one who is planning to move out. They need to find a smaller house with one less bedroom or they risk paying an under-occupancy penalty, known as the ‘bedroom tax’.

If these two families swapped homes, they would both live in a home that better suited their needs.

So how does it work?

1. If you decide you want to start the mutual exchange process, you can sign up to our database of customers looking to find their perfect home swap match. You’ll need to give us a description of your current home and what your new requirements are. We’ll then get in touch if we find a match.
   
   Or you can find a match yourself by advertising it on your social media or through Home Swapper an online mutual exchange platform.
   
   
2. Once you’ve found your match, you’ll both need to contact your landlords and ask for a mutual exchange form, you’ll need to complete the form and return it to start the process.
   
   
3. Once both landlords are happy for the mutual exchange to go ahead, they’ll write to let you know.
   
   
4. You’ll then need to agree on a move-in date with the landlords and the other tenant.
   
   
5. Once agreed, you can move in and enjoy your new home!