Mutual Exchange

A Mutual Exchange lets you swap your home with another customer’s home through an ‘assignment of tenancy’. You need to apply for permission to Mutual Exchange, please get in contact with us for further information.  

You can apply for a Mutual Exchange if you have one of the following tenancies with a Council or Housing Association: 

  • Secure tenancy   

  • Assured tenancy 

  • Fixed Term tenancy  

 Customers must have a clear rent account and not owe any monies to Abri.  

 Applying for a Mutual Exchange 

 Please contact us if you are thinking about applying to Mutual Exchange.  

When you advertise your home for a Mutual Exchange, bring out its best features to make it more attractive to others. Clear colour photographs will help, as will detailed descriptions. 

 Does it have new double-glazed windows, for example? Or an attractive view? How far is it from the local shops? 

 Think about the things that would be helpful for people to know and include these in your advert. 

To find someone to Mutual Exchange with, take a look at HomeSwapper, the UK’s largest community of social housing tenants looking to swap homes. Using this service means you won’t have to wait for months on a housing transfer list and will get to choose the home you want. 

 HomeSwapper uses the details you supply to match you to other tenants who may have a home you could be interested in. You’ll receive a text or email when it finds you a match. It’s a free and really easy way to find your next home. 

We are legally required to approve or refuse a Mutual Exchange within 42 days of all applications being received. This does not mean you will move within 42 days as essential Gas and Electric safety checks can be completed outside of this window. 

The average Mutual Exchange takes six to eight weeks to complete. 

Property inspections 

 We carry out an inspection on all Abri properties within the exchange. This usually takes between 30 minutes to one hour, depending on how big your home is and if you have a garden. 

 Your Housing Officer will be looking for several things when they visit you: 

  • Health and safety concerns 

  • Damage to the property 

  • Alterations you have made, with or without permission 

  • Items you have agreed to leave for your swap partner when they move in 

After we have inspected the Abri home, we will send incoming and internal customers a disclaimer listing any issues that have been identified and any non-standard or gifted items which will become your responsibility in the future.  

If you change your mind 

Please let us know you no longer want to move as soon as possible. It is your responsibility to inform your swap partner so please remember to tell them too. 

Refusal of a Mutual Exchange 

We can refuse a Mutual Exchange for the following reasons: 

  • Any one or more of the grounds set out in Schedule 3 of the Housing Act 1985 

  • Any one or more of the grounds set out in Schedule 14 of the Localism Act 2011 

  • Outstanding arrears with Abri including former tenancies and charges 

  • A failure to remedy, to our satisfaction, any remedial repairs 

  • Any relevant planning agreements 

  • Any relevant local connection restrictions 

  • Any convictions (excluding spent), or pending criminal investigations, relating to an offence which may pose a significant risk to neighbours and/or the wider community. Abri will consider convictions (excluding spent) or investigations relating to sexual offences (e.g., rape, sexual assault, and crimes against children) as posing a significant risk. 

We will not tell your swap partner the reasons for your refusal and the same will be true if the refusal is due to your swap partner. You will need to speak to your swap partner to understand why a Mutual Exchange has been refused.

Find out more in our Mutual Exchange Policy here.