Council mutual exchange/house swap

eastenders2012

hi i was wondering if anyone could advise me if a house exchange would go ahead, i live with my son in a 2bed flat and i am wanting to swap with a single man who is living in a 2 bed back and front door, I'm wanting to move so my son will have his own garden and the single man is wanting to move to my flat because its all on the one level and closer to his family, would the council allow the swap to go ahead??

McKneff

I cant actually see any problem with that, everyone would be happy.


I would say the best thing you could do is ask the council.

mellymoo74

Have you used homeswap? It's for mutual exchanges.
Council/HA won't have a problem with a mutual exchange unless you were trying to move to a warden controlled and didn't need it.

Savvy_Sue

I don't know whether they'll let single man swap into a 2 bed flat?

Delree

I work for a housing association administering mutual exchanges and I would allow this. You're allowed to under occupy by one bedroom.

eastenders2012

Thank you, we have handed in the forms on Friday but I was told they have 42 days to make a decision, i don't know what the outcome will be, i thought you where allowed 1 extra room but what i have read on the internet people have been refused before, does anyone know how long a swap takes to process and actually be in your new house? thanks

Savvy_Sue

I'm afraid I have no idea about timescales, but do be aware of the condition of the place you're moving into, and the terms and conditions for any repairs you think might be needed.

I know when mutual exchanges used to happen where I was working, we didn't do ANY repairs which were needed at the time of exchange. So if you were to move in and find all the doors were badly hung and didn't shut properly, or none of the windows would close properly, we'd do nothing to help you get that sorted.

eastenders2012

thankyou, I still don't know how long it will take, have not heard anything back from council yet

thedogsmum

I'm not suggesting there are, but I think you need to ensure there are no rent arrears.

AngelOfTheNorth

Different councils and HAs have different rules. Many allow under occupation by one room, including my local HA. Others don't. At a minimum, we're going to need to know what area you're in if there's any chance of someone here knowing.

eastenders2012

Hi, as far as I'm aware the man does not have any rent arrears, I live in Glasgow, thanks