Mutual exchange: swapping social housing tenancies

Rent from a council or housing association and want to move? A mutual exchange lets you swap tenancies with another social tenant. Here is how it works, who can use it, and what your landlord can and cannot do.

What is a mutual exchange?

A mutual exchange is two social tenants agreeing to swap homes. Each takes on the other's tenancy. In legal terms it is an assignment: each tenant assigns their tenancy to the other.

An exchange helps most when:

• You need a larger or smaller home
• You want to move to a different area
• Your home no longer suits you, say an upstairs flat with mobility difficulties

Who can do a mutual exchange?

Secure tenants, most council tenants, have a legal right to exchange under the Housing Act 1985. The right holds as long as you meet the conditions and the landlord has no valid ground to refuse.

Assured tenants, most housing association tenants, can exchange if their tenancy agreement says so. Many do.

Assured shorthold tenants generally have no legal right to exchange, but a landlord can agree to one.

How do you find an exchange?

Several services match social tenants for exchanges. The main ones, HomeSwapper and Mutual Exchange Online, let you list your home and search for matches. Many councils and housing associations run their own registers too.

How do you make the exchange happen?

Once you have found a match:

1. Both tenants ask their own landlord for permission
2. Both landlords must consider it and answer within 42 days
3. If both consent, the exchange can go ahead
4. Legal paperwork carries out the assignment

Can the landlord refuse?

A landlord can only refuse on a ground listed in Schedule 3 of the Housing Act 1985. They include:

• The home is too large or too small for the incoming tenant
• Possession proceedings are running against one of the tenants
• The home was specially adapted for a disabled person, and the incoming tenant does not need the adaptations
• A court order bars occupation

Outside those grounds, the landlord cannot say no.

What happens to your current tenancy?

In an exchange you take on the other tenant's tenancy: its type, its conditions, its rent. You do not start fresh. You step into the other person's shoes.

So whatever rights come with the other tenancy, good or bad, become yours. Before agreeing, check whether it is secure or assured, and read the terms.

Does mutual exchange affect a disrepair claim?

A disrepair claim covers the time you lived in the affected home. Exchange into a home with disrepair, and your repair rights apply straight away. If the incoming home already has problems, report them to the new landlord before you move in, or as you do.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

If your new or current home has disrepair, we check whether you may have a claim and refer suitable matters to an SRA-regulated panel solicitor.

Call us on 0800 030 4669. No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Sources

• Section 92, Housing Act 1985 (assignment by way of exchange) (legislation.gov.uk)

Related articles

• Succession rights, council and housing association tenancies