Mutual Exchange

A Mutual Exchange is when tenants living in 2 separate properties decide that they wish to exchange homes.  Any assured tenant can apply for a mutual exchange with any other assured or secure tenant. The other person does not have to be living in a South Somerset Homes property.

There are certain rules about who is eligible for an exchange. You will not be allowed to move if you owe any rent and you can only apply if you are an 'Assured' or 'Secure' tenant, you have complied with the Terms and Conditions of your Tenancy Agreement and the proposed exchange would not lead to under occupation or overcrowding in either of the properties.

Your new home must be suitable for your needs. It must not be too big or too small. Some homes have been adapted or designed for people with special needs - unless you have special needs you will not qualify for these properties. If you are swapping with a tenant from outside South Somerset Homes, we will provide the other landlord with a report on you. They will provide us in turn with a report on our new customers. Once the exchange is agreed your property will be inspected and you will be told of any work that needs doing before you move.

We have lists of tenants who are interested in mutual exchanges at our offices at Yeovil, Wincanton and Chard that you can look through. The lists are updated every six weeks.

For further information please see the mutual exchanges section of the website

Transfers

If your circumstances change after you have moved into your present home we can place you on our Transfer List. Priority will be given to those who need to move for medical, overcrowding, relationship breakdown or access to employment reasons.

We are a member of the Housing Organisations Mobility and Exchange Services (HOMES) scheme, which allows us to nominate any of our tenants wanting to transfer to other parts of the country, to other participating landlords including Local Authorities and Housing Associations.

For further information please contact your Housing Officer.

HOMES MOBILITY SCHEME

The Homes Mobility Scheme is a national organisation, which works with Councils and Housing Associations to make it easier for you to move home. The scheme can be used for short or long-distance moves. If you wish to move because your job is too far away for you to travel daily, or you have a job offer in another area, or you need to give or receive support, or you have other reasons which might be considered pressing (such as harassment) then we may be able to refer you to another landlord in the area you wish to move to through the HOMES mobility scheme.

HOMESWAP

The HOMESWAP national mutual exchange scheme is designed to help match up applicants who are looking to swap homes. Although it doesn't guarantee finding you a suitable ‘swap partner' it will certainly give you a good chance of achieving this.

All details on each applicant's current home are entered into a computerised system, together with what they are looking for, then the system finds the best possible matches. It is up to the applicant to contact the other member and arrange to view the home. The more people who become registered the more choice there will be and the more effective a tool the system will be.

If you are interested in registering and would like to know more about the scheme, please contact your housing officer or you can contact the scheme directly.

HOMES (Housing Mobility and Exchange services)
242 Vauxhall Bridge Road
London
SW1V 1AU

Telephone 020 7963 0200
www.homes.org.uk