For Residents

Transfer

If you are a Mercian tenant you may register on a transfer list for another Mercian property. More

Mutual Exchange

This is when tenants of either a housing association or local authority "swap" homes. More

Ending your tenancy

If you have found alternative accommodation yourself. More

Mutual Exchange

As an alternative to a transfer, you may consider exchanging your home with another resident. Exchanges are often a much quicker way for residents to satisfy their preferences, especially where a transfer to another Mercian property is unlikely.

Who can I exchange with?

An exchange may take place between council and housing association tenants. Details of other landlords may be found on: www.housingnet.co.uk

Can we just swap homes?

Exchanges have to be agreed by both landlords, therefore, you MUST contact us if you find someone you wish to exchange with.

Landlords may withhold permission for an exchange for the following reasons:

• either home is under a Court Order for possession
• the property is substantially larger than needed by either party
• the property would not be large enough to house the new residents family and cause overcrowding
• the property has been adapted for a disabled person, or is part of a sheltered scheme, and the new tenant does not require specialist housing.

Once you have applied for an exchange, your landlord has 42 days in which to advise if permission for your exchange is granted.

House Exchange

House Exchange is a quick and easy website designed to bring people together who are looking to swap their home.

To use House Exchange simply visit www.houseexchange.org.uk, choose your landlord from the drop down list and register your details online. Once you have registered, your details will be sent for approval and when approved, will appear in the House Exchange database.You will receive login details, which allows you to search the website for potential changes.

Remember , any information entered on the website will be available to other registered users. If you do not want people to contact you directly, fill in the alternative contact details when registering.

When you have found someone to swap with, contact your landlord, they will then go through the procedures needed to complete your exchange.

HomeSwapper

Homeswapper.co.uk  is the UK's largest database of social landlord tenants who are looking to swap homes. The database can be used to search for swaps locally, regionally and nationally. Due to the size and scope of Homeswapper, two out of three registrants are matched to potential swaps within 24 hours.

Registration to Homeswapper.co.uk is quick and easy. All you need to do is enter details of your proerty (you can even add photos of your property, the more information you enter, the more likely you are to receive interest from potential swappers) and then fill in the details of what area you would like to move to and what type and size of property you would like.

Registration to Homeswapper is avaliable nationally to all social tenants. Because Mercian has partnered with Homeswapper, it is free to all Mercian residents.

When you have registered with Homeswapper, you will have limited access that will allow you to search for properties. When you register, Mercian will receive notification and once we have verified that you are one of our customers, you will have full access to the service, which will allow you to access the contact details of other swappers allowing you to contact them to dicuss swapping if you find a match.

Once registered to the service, Homeswapper will search for potential swaps on a daily basis. All results will be saved to your personal log-in section. In addition, you will receive regular 'match alerts' sent to you by email or text message.

Once you have agreed a swap with another swapper, the next step is to contact your landlord to progress the swap.

For more information, visit www.homeswapper.co.uk where you can search for properties before registering, or contact the Housing Team on 0121 322 7373.