How the system works

You have a legal right to arrange to swap your home with another of our tenants or a tenant of another housing association or council. You have to get our permission (and the permission of the other landlord if one is involved) but we cannot refuse permission without giving you a good reason.

It is important to remember that this may affect what kind of tenancy you have (see below).

How Do I Find Someone To Exchange With?

Online : You can add your property to our mutual exchange property list.
Properties will remain on the list for 6 months. If you wish to amend or remove your property at a later date please contact us quoting your property reference number.

If you find a potential exchange you should complete a 'Register your interest' form. This will activate an email to the owner of that property passing on your email address and details. It is then the property owner's responsibility to respond to you directly.

Homeswapper : Tenants of The Guinness Partnership can also register their properties with Homeswapper www.homeswapper.co.uk

Advertise : We can put up a notice for you in the estate office of the estate you want to move to. Some of our Area offices keep lists of tenants who want to swap.

You can also advertise privately through shop windows or local newspapers.

Council : The local council has lists of people in council houses and other housing association homes wanting to move to the area. You can then approach them to see if they might want to swap with you. You should be able to go and look at these lists in the Town Hall or offices of the council housing department - it is probably best to telephone first to find out exactly where they are.

Remember that if you want to swap with a tenant of another landlord, both landlords have to agree to the swap.

What Kind Of Tenancy Will I Have If I Do A Swap?

Usually you will be taking over the tenancy of the person you are swapping with. Technically you are doing an "exchange by assignment".

Therefore, it is very important to find out about their tenancy. Ask to see their tenancy agreement and compare it with your own.

If they cannot find their tenancy agreement to show you, ask their landlord. You are going to have to get their landlord's consent to take over the tenancy agreement so you will need to be in touch.

Differences to look out for:

Rents: If you are a Secure tenant with a Fair Rent fixed by the Rent Officer, you may be considering a swap with a council tenant whose rent is fixed by the council, or with an assured tenant of ours or another housing association, whose rent is fixed by the landlord and is usually higher than a Fair Rent.

Right to buy If you are a Guinness Housing Association tenant ro have a Preserved Right To Buy, you cannot take that right with you if you swap with any Guinness Trust tenant or any Assured Tenant of any landlord.

Succession Some relatives living with the tenant have the right to take over the tenancy when the tenant dies, this varies depending on the sort of tenancy and the landlord.
Ask your Housing Officer for advice if you are worried or doubtful about it.

What Else Should I Check Before Deciding I Want To Go Ahead With The Swap?

Repairs The other tenant's repairing responsibilities will become yours when you exchange tenancies. You should therefore check whether there is any damage which would become your responsibility. We do not redecorate for tenants doing exchanges.

Rent account If possible, you should check whether the other tenant has rent arrears, because once you have exchanged tenancies, you become responsible for each others' rent accounts.


When I Have Found Someone I Want To Swap With, What Do I Do?

When you are sure you want to move into their home and take over their tenancy agreement, you will need to get our consent and that of the other landlord if there is one.

Ask your Housing Officer for a Mutual Exchange Application Form. You should complete the form and return it to the Area office. If another landlord is involved, we will then exchange references with them. This will involve giving information otherwise considered confidential, such as the size of your family and the balance on your rent account. We will ask the other landlord for similar information about their tenant.

We may need to visit both you and the other tenant before deciding whether your exchange can go ahead.

We must give you a decision within 6 weeks

Do not move before you have got the permission of both landlords.

When Can We Refuse Permission For An Exchange?

• If either tenant has a Court Order for Possession, or legal proceedings have been begun.
• If your home is much bigger than the incoming tenant actually needs (they would have more than 1 spare bedroom).
• If your home is in a sheltered scheme (or has been specially adapted) and the incoming tenant does not need those facilities.
• If the incoming tenant is not already one of our tenants and has an income too high to meet our charitable objectives.
• If your home is on land subject to a 'Section 106 agreement'

We will always insist that any rent arrears are cleared before the exchange takes place.

When Both Tenants Have Got Consent And We Have Agreed Which Date To Move, What Else Do I Have To Do?

You and the other tenant must sign a Deed of Assignment. This is the legal document for transferring the tenancy - without it your move will not be legal. We will give you the form for the tenancy you will be taking over. You must both sign both forms (Deed of Assignment)

(If you are swapping with a council tenant, sometimes the council will ask you to sign a new tenancy agreement).

You must send or give us the signed Deed of Assignment so that we can make copies for our records. We will return the original to the tenant who is moving into the home concerned.

You can then move.

(It is sometimes possible to sign all the documents the day you move, provided you have had our consent and told us the date in advance).

See your Tenants' Handbook (booklet 8, pages 22-24) about other things you must remember to do.

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