Mutual Exchange Guidance

Introduction

A Mutual Exchange is the process of social housing tenants swapping their homes. It can involve two or more properties and can take place across multiple local authorities and / or housing associations.

Definitions

Use of the term ‘residents’ refers to tenants named on the tenancy agreements. It does not include household members.

The terms ‘you’ and ‘your’ mean our residents. The terms ‘we’, ‘our’, and ’us’ mean Bassetlaw District Council (Bassetlaw District Council).

‘HomeSwapper’ refers to the platform we promote which allows residents to search for a suitable exchange.

Right to exchange

If you occupy your home on any of the following types of tenancy agreements, and providing there are no grounds for refusal (see sections 3.3 and 11.2), you have a statutory right to Mutually Exchange:

Secure council or housing association tenancy
Flexible (fixed term) council tenancy
Fully assured housing association tenancy
Assured shorthold tenancy (AST) with a housing association

If you occupy your home on any of the following forms of agreement, you do not have the right to Mutually Exchange:

Starter tenancy, including extension periods
Introductory tenancy
Demoted tenancy
Temporary move (formerly known as decant) tenancy
Licence agreement
Any tenancy within the private rented sector

There are circumstances where Bassetlaw District Council may have grounds to refuse a Mutual Exchange, as set out in Schedule 3 of the Housing Act 1985 and Schedule 14 of the Localism Act 2011. These grounds include:

If you have rent arrears (exceptions may be made if the Exchange is to a property with fewer bedrooms because of financial hardship, and to prevent further escalation of the arrears. Arrears cannot be paid off by the tenant you wish to exchange with)
If the property has been substantially adapted for a physically disabled person, and the incoming tenant or household member does not need those adaptations
When an obligation under one of the existing tenancies has been broken or not performed
If either property is not suitable for the needs of a tenant and their household, or if the tenant does not meet the criteria of the home they are exchanging into (e.g. age-restricted homes)

A list of legal grounds for refusal is available in the appendix.

We will not allow Exchanges to continue if either tenant has offered a financial incentive or used coercive behaviour.

How to do a mutual exchange

You are responsible for finding someone to exchange with. Tenants of Bassetlaw District Council have free access to HomeSwapper and we encourage tenants to utilise this service when searching for a Mutual Exchange partner. Tenants may also wish to utilise other avenues to source a Mutual Exchange, for example by advertising in newspapers or on alternative websites.

Households must ensure that the property they wish to Exchange into is suitable for their needs, in line with Bassetlaw District Council’s Choice Based Lettings Policy. If adaptations will be required, an Occupational Therapist (OT) will need to complete an assessment prior to the Mutual Exchange application being submitted, and the OT assessment document will need including with the application.

All households involved in the exchange must get written consent from their landlord(s) before proceeding. If a Mutual Exchange takes place without our written consent, the exchange will be unlawful. You must return to your respective properties immediately or we will treat occupants as unauthorised and take legal action to repossess the property(s).

Mutual Exchanges involving a joint tenancy require signed consent from all named tenants.

If you’re moving into one of our properties, you must provide supporting documentation to prove your identity so we can carry out Right to Rent checks.

If the Exchange involves another landlord, we will request a landlord reference which we will consider when making a decision.

We will notify all parties involved in the Exchange of our decision within the statutory deadline of 42 days from the receipt of all the fully completed applications.

The full details of the Mutual Exchange process can be found in the Tenant Mutual Exchange Procedure, which can be found on our website or requested from your Housing Officer.

Property inspections

We will schedule inspections of your home to assess the condition and identify any repairs needed. These will take place with your housing officer, a property surveyor, and qualified gas/electrical engineers. We will rectify any major repairs or safety issues for which we are responsible, prior to the Exchange taking place.
5.2 If the housing officer and surveyor agree that your property has failed the inspection, the Mutual Exchange will not be authorised until the issues are rectified.

Some examples of when a property may fail an inspection are:

There are defects due to neglect or damage by you or your household
Staff are unable to inspect all rooms and areas of the property (e.g. if access is refused or if the area is blocked)
The garden(s) have not been adequately maintained
Alterations are discovered which are not up to council standard and where permission was not sought

If you have made alterations without our consent, we may ask you to reinstate the property to its original state.

When you move out of your home you must leave it clean, tidy, in reasonable condition, and clear of any belongings. All rubbish must be disposed of.

You must accept the condition of the property you’re moving into on completion of the exchange. You will be required to sign a declaration accepting responsibility for any non-standard items or improvements which have been agreed to be left in the property. Bassetlaw District Council are not responsible for decorating the property or bringing it up to a ‘finished’ standard, or for removing items or fittings left in the property.

In exceptional circumstances, we may agree to carry out urgent repairs outside of our obligations if there is a potential health and safety risk. Where these have been caused by neglect or unauthorised tenant works, there will be a charge to the outgoing tenants. The Mutual Exchange will not be authorised and you will need to reapply once the works have been completed.

If any damage to the property is found after the exchange has been carried out, the Council reserve the right to recharge the outgoing tenant for any remedial work required.

Gas and electrical Safety

If your property is found to have a gas connection for your cooker, it will need to be replaced with an electric supply. This will be ordered by one of the Officers undertaking the inspection.

We will arrange for a new ‘satisfactory’ Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) to be produced, and for a gas safety check, once the property passes initial inspections.

On the day of the Exchange, our heating contractor Sure Serve will cap the property’s gas supply prior to the outgoing tenant moving out.

Sure Serve will contact the incoming tenant to make an appointment for the gas to be uncapped upon moving in.

Tenants are responsible for taking final meter readings, notifying energy suppliers of the move, and clearing any debt that they have accrued if they have prepayment meters.

If your property fails the gas or electric check due to alterations you have made to the property, the Mutual Exchange will not be authorised. If the changes constitute a health and safety risk, we will make the issue safe and you will be recharged for the work.

We advise for mutual exchanges to take place on a Monday as our gas contractor will uncap/cap your gas on with no charge, and tenancies legally commence on a Monday. If you make the decision to move in on a Saturday or Sunday, you will need to make provisions to be without heating and possibly hot water for the weekend as the gas cannot be uncapped on either of these days.

Tenancy agreements

Upon completion of the Mutual Exchange, your current tenancy will terminate and you will sign a new tenancy agreement.

Appeals against the decision

If we do not consent to a Mutual Exchange, you can appeal in writing within 14 days of our decision. The appeal must set out why you feel the decision is not justified.

A manager who was not involved in the original decision will review the Mutual Exchange request. They will only uphold the appeal if they find the original decision did not meet legal requirements. They will respond with their decision within 14 working days.

If you believe we have not followed this guidance or met our legal obligations, you can use our complaints process (see Formal Complaints Policy and Procedure).

Data protection

Personal information collected as part of the Mutual Exchange application will be used and stored in line with our Privacy Notice.

We may share information with other organisations where we have information sharing protocols in place, or who we have signed confidentiality agreements with, or where we are required to by law.

Monitoring and review

The Mutual Exchange process will be monitored to ensure its effectiveness.

We will review this document every 3 years after the effective date or sooner if updates are required to address legislative, regulatory, best practice, or operational changes.

Appendix

Relevant Bassetlaw District Council documents (found on our website):

Choice Based Lettings Policy
Privacy Notice
Mutual Exchange Tenant Procedure
Formal Complaints Policy and Procedure

Relevant legislation:

Housing Act 1985
Housing and Planning Act 1986
Housing Act 1988
Housing Act 1996
Crime and Disorder Act 1998
Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003
Housing and Regeneration Act 2008
Localism Act 2011

Grounds for Refusal (please note this list is non-extensive):

Schedule 3 of the Housing Act 1985	Schedule 14 of the Localism Act 2011	Grounds for refusal
-	Ground 1	When any rent lawfully due from a tenant under one of the existing tenancies has not been paid.
-	Ground 2	When an obligation under one of the existing tenancies has been broken or not performed.
Ground 1	Ground 3	A court order for possession or a suspended possession order has been made for either property.
Ground 2	Grounds 4 & 5	The landlord has served a notice of seeking possession and the notice is still in force, or possession proceedings have commenced.
Ground 3	Ground 7	The property is substantially larger than is reasonably needed by the proposed assignee.
Ground 4	Ground 8	The property is not reasonably suitable to the needs of the proposed assignee and their household.
Ground 5	Ground 9	The property is part of or close to a building that is held for non-housing purposes, or it is situated in a cemetery and was let in connection with employment with the landlord or with a local authority, a new town corporation, housing action trust, an urban development corporation, or the governors of a grant-aided school.
Additional ground (Housing Act 2004)	Ground 6	An injunction order under section 153 of the Housing Act 1996 or an anti-social behaviour order or a Demotion Order or a possession order under Ground 2 for secure tenancies or Ground 14 for assured tenancies is in force or an application for one of those is pending either against the tenant, the proposed assignee or a person who resides with either of them.
Ground 7	Ground 11	The property has been substantially adapted for occupation by a physically disabled person, and if the assignment went ahead a physically disabled person would not be living there.
Ground 8	Ground 12	The landlord lets properties to people in difficult circumstances (other than merely financial circumstances) and the proposed assignee would not fulfil these criteria.
Ground 9	Ground 13	The property is let to people with special needs and there is a social service or special facility nearby to the properties to assist people with those special needs, and if the assignment was to go ahead no person with those special needs would be living there.
Ground 10	Ground 14	The dwelling is the subject of a management agreement where the manager is a housing association of which at least half the members are tenants subject to the agreement and at least half of the tenants of the dwellings are members of the association, and also that the proposed assignee is not such a member nor is willing to become one.

Last Updated on Friday, March 20, 2026