Exchanging Your Home

You can advertise your home on the exchange list at Select Move, or you could use local shops or notice boards, to tell other people that you want to move. To improve your chances of finding someone to swap with, it helps if you tell people:

• The type of home you live in (such as house or flat) and number of bedrooms
• Where your home is (the area of street)
• Your contact details
• Any special items that other people might like about your home (such as a new kitchen, garage or big garden)
• What type of home you want and how many bedrooms you need
• The area(s) that you are prepared to consider
• Anything else that is important to you

If you find a home that you’d like, or someone contacts you about an advert that you’ve placed, it’s time to check out each other’s homes. When you agree to swap homes with another tenant you are accepting the property in the condition you find it. If the swap goes ahead, you must repair or decorate your new home. So make sure that everything is in good working order.

Your new landlord will still be responsible for normal repairs, but not for dealing with any damage caused before the swap. It would be up to you to deal with any breakages. You need to discuss what the outgoing tenant will take with them and what will be left when you move in.

Now and again, someone might tell you that their landlord will improve the home in a few months. If this happens, check it out before you agree to swap. Otherwise, you could exchange homes and then find you have to wait.

Once you find the home of your dreams and the tenant agrees to swap, it’s time to fill in the paperwork. Every tenant involved in the swap needs to fill in an ‘Application to exchange homes with another tenant’ form. The form can be filled out below.

Check whether your swap partner’s landlord is CGA. If not, all landlords involved must give written permission for the swap to happen. There may be separate forms to fill in for each landlord.

Please send your completed application form to: Community Gateway, Harbour House Port Way, Ashton-On-Ribble, Preston, PR2 2DW or complete the form below.

Once the completed forms have been received, you and the other tenant(s) will get a home visit. The purpose of this visit is to inspect your home and:

• Check through the details on your application form
• Assess the condition of your home
• See if your rent account (and that of any other tenants involved in the swap) is clear
• Check if you want to move to a suitable size and type of home. At this stage, any improvements, alterations or repairs needed will be noted. We will also record if any items seem unsafe or might be a hazard to other people.

After checks have been made, CGA will write and let you know if you are allowed to swap. If you want to swap with the tenant of another landlord, you can only move if each landlord agrees to the swap. CGA must tell you in writing whether the swap can go ahead. You will be told this within 42 days of your application being received.

Please note that upfront rent will be required for mutual exchange. This is normally 4 weeks upfront rent.

You must not move first, then ask for your landlords permission to swap later. If you do this, you may be ask to move back at your own cost. Legal action may follow. Sometimes there may be a problem which needs sorting out before the swap can go ahead. This might mean clearing any rent arrears before you move or repairing damage that is thought to be of your own making. You must not move until you have met all these conditions.

Once the move has been agreed in writing, you can agree a date for moving.

Before the move happens, an appointment will be made for you to come in to the CGA office to sign the official paperwork. Once you have signed for your new home (but not before), you can move in.