Council house exchange advice - Do I have the right to exchange?
All Council and Housing Association tenants with a Secure or Assured tenancy have the right to exchange, however, permission can be witheld in certain circumstances:
- Where the applicant is under an introductory tenancy.
- Where an injunction, a demotion order, an ASBO or a possession order has been granted on the grounds of nuisance, or if court action to obtain is pending.
- Where notice of proceedings for possession has been served or court proceedings have commenced under any of the specified grounds for possession.
- Where the property you propose to exchange to is substantially larger than your needs and the exchange would result in under-occupancy.
- Where the property you propose to exchange to is too small for your needs and the exchange would result in overcrowding/over-occupancy.
- Where the existing tenant obtained the property through his/her employment and it is located within the grounds of a building not normally used for housing purposes.
- Where the landlord is a registered charity and the applicant would not meet the criteria for assistance from that charity.
- Where the property has adaptations to suit the needs of a physically disabled person and the applicant would not require those adaptations / is not considered physically disabled.
- Where the landlord is a Housing Association or Trust that accomodates only applicants of a specific group and the applicant does not meet that criteria.
- Where the property is of a group that are normally occupied by tenants with special needs, there are special facilities nearby designed for persons with the type of special needs and the applicant does not require that type of specialist accomodation.
- Where the property is managed by a management co-operative and the applicant is not willing to join the co-operative.
- Where it is established that; the applicant has exchanged his home with another tenant and either paid money to, or received money from, the other tenant as a condition of making the exchange. - This may result in your landlord seeking possession of your home
What the law says:
s92 1985 Housing Act
Assignments by way of exchange
- 1 It is a term of every secure tenancy that the tenant may, with the written consent of the landlord, assign the tenancy to another secure tenant who satisfies the condition in subsection (2) or to an assured tenant who satisfies the conditions in subsection (2A).
- 2 The condition is that the other secure tenant has the written consent of his landlord to an assignment of his tenancy either to the first-mentioned tenant or to another secure tenant who satisfies the condition in this subsection.
- 2A The conditions to be satisfied with respect to an assured tenant are:
(a) that the landlord under his assured tenancy is either the Housing Corporation, registered social landlord or a housing trust which is a charity; and
(b) that he intends to assign his assured tenancy to the secure tenant referred to in subsection (1) or to another secure tenant who satisfies the condition in subsection (2).
Information is provided for guidance purposes only, we always recommend that you seek professional legal advice where appropriate
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