Mutual exchanges
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Mutual exchanges
Come along to our Mutual Exchange Information Day!
Wednesday 29th May. Drop-In, 10am - 2pm.
Sloane Court, Park Street, Brighton, BN2 0DG
Open invite to all BHCC and local Housing Association tenants.
Want to find a swap? Ask us for a property details sheet.
Email: housing.customerservices@brighton-hove.gov.uk and we will send you a sheet which you can fill in and use on the day to help find a match for a mutual exchange.
Affected by welfare reform changes?
Housing staff will be on hand to discuss what options are available.
Questions about the Mutual Exchange scheme?
The Mutual Exchange administrator, Housing Income Management team and Mears will all be there to answer any questions on how the scheme works, what to do if you are in rent arrears, repairs, adaptations or other property related questions. You can also meet the team who run the facebook group "Council Exchanges wanted", a really useful place to know about, full of help, support and nice places to exchange with!
Find out more:
Contact Housing Customer Services
See you there!
What is a mutual exchange?
A mutual exchange is where a tenant of Brighton & Hove City Council swaps home with another council or housing association tenant.
Brighton & Hove City Council has a mutual exchange service for tenants which runs through the homemove website www.homemove.org.uk. If you need any help or have any queries about mutual exchanges, please contact the Housing Customer Service team..
You can also exchange with tenants of housing associations and other local authorities if everybody involved agrees.
Can I apply for a mutual exchange?
Normally an exchange will be agreed by the council providing:
- you are a secure tenant (see pages 8 and 42 of our tenant handbook for more information)
- both properties are the right size for the incoming family’s needs (if you receive Housing Benefit it is important that you read about the changes being introduced from April 2013), and
- neither party is having legal action taken against them for breaking the terms of their tenancy e.g. for rent arrears
You can register for our Housing Customer Online system to check your rent account to make sure you are up to date, as generally your account must be up to date before you can move.
We must make an inspection of your property before you move and will try to do this within ten working days of your application. If you have made alterations to the property without our permission or caused damage, you will be asked to restore the property to its original condition, or pay for any work we will need to do.
If the mutual exchange is agreed, you need to agree a moving date. You must then inform us of your moving date in writing, and we will write back to confirm that the exchange can go ahead. Contact the Housing Customer Service team for further details.
Exchanges with other council or housing association tenants
Tenants looking to swap can use any of the national exchange services listed below. Please note that these services are provided by external companies and you may need to pay. These services are not the responsibility of Brighton & Hove City Council.
If you're a member of Facebook, there is also a Facebook group you can join for people wishing to exchange council properties.
National exchange websites
- Community Council House Exchange - www.exchangeforum.co.uk
UK wide database and forum - Council exchange site - www.councilexchangesite.co.uk
- Exchange Properties - www.exchangeproperties.co.uk
UK wide service aiming to connect people looking to exchange - Exchange Homes - www.exchange-homes.co.uk
- Exchange UK - www.exchangeuk.co.uk
UK wide database, restricted free access with option to pay for 'premier membership' - Homeswapper - www.homeswapper.co.uk