House exchange refused using S106

saffronflowers

Hi there - a mutual exchange has been refused using S106 regulations which as far as I can see is a planning law not a housing law, and as far as I understand housing law gives tennants the right to mutual exchange.

They are using the local connection card, however, the distance between both properties is a mile and we are under the same parish. If this is the case the person whose property my friend wants to move into is very unlikely to be able to move as it is a hamlet and very few people have connections

Thoughts please and what we can do

SFx

saffronflowers

BUMP please thanking you

slbeeeze

Sorry for jumping on an old post but I am currently having the same problem with trying to move although I am trying to a different county all together, I am interested to know what happend with your swap ? With regards

tbs624

Local connection restrictions in S106 ( of the Town & County Planning Act 1990) agreements are prioritised over mutual exchanges (AFAIA) but it might be worth you seeking out the actual wording of the specific agreement

slbeeeze

I should point out its the lady that wants to move to my house as part of a 3 way swap that's the problem, she has no local connection to my village, but the other person and myself do have connection to the places we need to move to, we just cant find straight forward swaps !!!!
Anyway i have just found this on the internet, and if i am reading it correct it says mutual exchanges take precedence and i may be able to challenge it should the outcome be that I cannot swap.


Exchange legislation causes all RHEs tremendous problems. Villages are
very concerned about the preservation of the ‘Local connection’ on rural exception
3 In the case of an old planning obligation it will remain in force unless modified/discharged by agreement or application. If policy no longer supports the restrictions imposed by the obligation then this may support modification/discharge sites, when a mutual exchange takes place it undermines the entire premise of ‘local homes for local people’ that has been ‘sold’ to them. Can Mutual Exchanges and Transfers be prevented on exception sites through the use of S106 conditions? Which takes precedence, the ‘right to move’ or the local connection?
Within housing legislation mutual exchanges take precedence. A S106 agreement may apply a local connection to a property but this is entirely in the hands of local policy and is open to legal challenge.
Local Authorities must take care that their allocations policy is not challenged on the basis of being discriminatory if they too strongly preserve the rights of local people

Fuzzyness

is the property in question run and managed by a housing association. they should be able to explain the finer points of the S106 Agreement that exists on the property. ultimately the housing association has entered into a legal agreement with the council to ensure that these houses are only available with a local connection to help meet local need. if one of the three doesnt fit the criteria they would be within their rights to refuse them to live there.

slbeeeze

yes my landlord is a housing association, i myself mutually exchanged into my house a few years ago and to be honest if i had known anything about this claus in place i wouldnt have bothered !!

however it does appear that my HA is also unsure of what are the terms of this agreement because they have now written to the local council in question asking for clarifacation of it ,so i guess ill just have to wait a little bit longer, i am a bit miffed as to why none of this is written anywhere either on my tenancy agreement or on the local councils website and its just been flagged up now all the paperwork for the mutual exchange has been submitted !!
having searched the internet on all this it does seem that this is not going to go in my favour which is really really annoying as the lady who lives opposit me whos landlord is the local council, did do a swap and a family with no local connections moved there !!!!

evanowen

You need someone who can read the agreement and decide whether it can be discharged or not.