Mutual Exchange
If you currently live in social housing and would like to swap
your home to live in a different sized property or in a different
area then a Mutual Exchange might be the answer for you.
A Mutual Exchange allows Council or Housing Association tenants to
swap their home for another tenants home. All
Landlords must agree before an exchange can go ahead.
Homeswapper
We have recently partnered with HomeSwapper who operate a web
based national home swapping scheme. It is easy to register
with HomeSwapper by clicking on the above link and the service is
free of charge to tenants of Ashford Borough Council.
Once you are registered you will receive details of potential
matches via email or by mobile phone. A paper list of
potential swaps will also be kept at the Civic
Centre offices.
Since its launch in November 2007, the
Homeswapper website has proved to be very popular with over 350
Ashford Borough Council tenants signing up to the service in its
first year and 84% of these tenants receiving at least one property
match since the start of their registration.
In addition, there are currently 381 other
Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords subscribed to
Homeswapper which is of great benefit to those registered tenants
wishing to exchange to an area outside of the Ashford Borough.
Here are just a few of the positive comments
that the service has received from registered tenants in
Ashford:
"We have found a lovely family to swap
with and we have become friends with them thanks to
Homeswapper"
"We have found the perfect house in
Charing. We were only on Homeswapper for 8 days when we found the
perfect house, which came up a match. We sign and move this Friday.
We could not have done it without Homeswapper .So thank you very
much”
House Exchange Direct
House Exchange
Direct operate a web based national home swapping scheme which
offers a three way swap search facility. It is easy to
register with them by clicking on the above link. There is a small
subscription charge for the service.
Found a Swap?
Once you have found a home that you would like to exchange you
must still obtain permission to swap your home and you can do this
by filling out a Mutual
Exchange application form or you can
obtain a form by emailing the Housing Services
Team or by phoning them on 01233 330688.
Your Potential Exchange
When you find a property you are interested in you will need to
arrange a viewing, its worthwhile making a note before hand of
things you want to know about, the list below may help.
General Area - Suggested Check List
- Schools - where are they? Some schools are full and may not
accept new children.
- Doctors Surgery – where is it? will they accept you onto their
list?
- Transport - are there buses or trains available?
- Post Office, is there a local post office or shop?
- Parking, what is it like at weekends and evenings when everyone
is home? - Is there enough space? Do they rent a garage? Would you
be able to take it over?
The Property - Suggested Check List
- Are all the door locks working properly? How many sets of keys
do they have?
- If there is a door entry system do they have the security tags
for the entry system. (We charge for these if they are
missing)
- Is there a TV aerial or Satellite Dish, are they leaving
it?
- Is the cooker point gas or electric? If it is electric, is gas
available and how much would it cost to have installed? (We will
not provide this.)
- Are all the fittings, i.e. kitchen units, toilet, bath and
basins as supplied or have they changed any? (We may not be
responsible for tenants alterations and if a repair is required, we
would only supply standard items.)
- Have they suffered from flooding or water damage?
- What are they leaving behind? e.g. carpets, curtains, blinds,
sheds, greenhouse, etc
- What is the condition of the property? The Council are not
responsible for decoration, if you have to redecorate how much will
this cost?
- Are there any outstanding repairs, i.e. cracked windows, broken
window catches, missing doors, cracked wash basin or bath, or any
unauthorised alterations?
The Next Stage
If you wish to go ahead now that you have seen each others
homes, the next stage is to complete a mutual exchange form for
each family. When you complete the form tell us about any problems
in the property that concern you, we can check these when we
inspect the property.
Important
The Council are not responsible for the
decoration within our property. The Council may not be responsible
for repairs or reinstatement work caused by tenants alterations or
removal of tenants alterations.
If there have been alterations to the property
that you consider undesirable or may represent a Health and Safety
risk you must get it resolved before you agree to the exchange.
Be clear about any items you are intending to
take with you or intend to leave behind. For example, tenant
improvements, sheds, garden features, planting. Where you decide to
take items with you, you must ensure that all reinstatement work is
undertaken and that you have not created a Health and Safety
Risk.
Sorting these things out before the move is
much easier than a disagreement afterwards.
You only have to ask us which items we will
deal with and which you or the tenant to resolve.
When we have received the forms we will carry
out an inspection of each property.
This webpage was updated on
4/27/2012