Mutual Exchange

What is a mutual exchange

A mutual exchange is where two or more tenants of a local council or housing association swap homes and take on the terms of each other's tenancy.

Who can apply

You can apply if you are a secure or assured tenant of a council or housing association. If you are an introductory tenant you must wait until you become a secure or assured tenant before you can exchange.

You cannot exchange if

You don't get your landlord's permission to move
You owe rent
You are in the process of being evicted (having your tenancy ended early)
The property you wish to move is not suitable, for example, if it is too large or too small.

Kent Homechoice Mutual Exchange Service

A new mutual exchange service was launched by Kent Homechoice in October 2010.

Supported by all 13 local authorities in Kent, as well as 22 housing associations, the service aims to help tenants in social housing swap homes.

Mutual exchanges are available to all social housing secure or assured tenants. You are a social housing tenant if your landlord is the local council or a housing association.

Register

You can register for mutual exchange on the Kent Homechoice website where your home will be advertised for other tenants to see.

You can use the site to find another home you would like to exchange yours for. When you register you can say what sort of property you are looking for. Then you can log in any time and search for possible matches.