No matter who you are and where you live, statistics show that sooner or later you will probably move. As a council or housing association tenant there are four ways that you can find a new home:

• Moving into the private rental or ownership sector.
• By arranged transfer.
• Buying your own home through a shared ownership or homebuy scheme.
• Making an exchange with another tenant.

This article follows on from a previous article and looks at making an exchange with another council or housing exchange tenant.

The 1985 Housing Act gave local authority and housing association tenants the right to mutually exchange houses anywhere in England and Wales, provided that each tenant obtained the written consent of their respective landlord. A mutual exchange can be fairly easy to organise and an extremely quick way of moving home.

Your council may be able to arrange an exchange within your own borough, but this varies from council to council, so you will need to speak to them directly. The local council and housing association offices are also a common place for people to post adverts if they are looking for an exchange partner.

You can also try and find an exchange partner privately. News and classified papers and directories, local shops and various websites are all good sources of advertisements from tenants looking to arrange a mutual exchange. There are some useful websites listed at the end of this article.

However, if you are looking to exchange with someone in a different part of the country, the most frequently used - and possibly the best - method is the Homeswap scheme.

Homeswap is a UK-wide register of council, housing association, housing co-operative and local housing company tenants who want to swap homes. The government-funded agency HOMES manages the free computer-based matching service, which contains details of around 50,000 prospective exchange partners and which is updated on a monthly basis. Around 15,000 households swap successfully each year using this scheme.

The first step on the road to a mutual exchange using the Homeswap scheme is registering. You can get a registration form from a number of places, depending on how your local council operates - the Town Hall, your local housing officer, your area housing office, or via the homes website.

Once you have filled and returned the form, two things will happen:

• HOMES will regularly update you with a list of potential swap, providing you with details of people wanting to move into your area, to see if there are any exchange properties that suit you. You can also check the Homeswap lists held at local offices in the areas you are interested in.
  
  
• Your own details will be displayed on the Homeswap lists in the housing offices in the areas you are considering moving to.

When you are looking, be aware that some of the ads are out of date. Be prepared to find some properties that have already been exchanged and phone numbers or addresses that are no longer valid. Also remember that some people will embellish the details of their home to try to attract exchange partners.

Homeswap is a self-help scheme, which means that when you get details of possible swap partners, it is up to you to contact them.

When you have identified somebody who might like to swap with you it is normal to visit each other's property. Here are some relevant issues to consider when viewing a property. For more information on viewing, click here.

• Why do they want to move?
• How much do the bills cost each month or quarter?
• Have they carried out any improvements? If they did, check that they got permission from the landlord, otherwise you could be held responsible if things go wrong after you have exchanged and the landlord was unaware of the changes.
• Are there any repairs outstanding? See below for further information.
• Make sure that you are both clear about what fixtures, fittings and decorations will be staying and what will be taken with the departing tenant.

IMPORTANT: Before swapping homes you must have permission from each landlord.
ALSO IMOPORTANT: Do not offer (or accept) financial inducements to encourage a swap - it is illegal.

When you have agreed with someone that you want to swap homes you can both ask for an exchange form and you should return this to your Housing Officer. They will then visit you at home and check the quality of any improvements you have made to your property, any repairs that need to be done before you move out, and whether you are eligible. The landlord usually has 6 weeks to make a decision on whether to approve a move, although most take much less time than this.

The reasons a landlord can refuse an exchange are set out in the Housing Act (1985). Most landlords will usually agree to an exchange provided that:

• Neither of you has rent arrears.
• There is no court order for repossession of your home.
• Possession proceedings have not been started.
• Both homes are in good repair.
• The property to which you wish to move is not too large or too small for you, or otherwise unsuitable for your needs. If the property has been adapted for special needs or the elderly and the exchange partner fits neither criteria, you are likely to be refused.

Remember that different local authorities and housing associations may have different eligibility requirements. Some of them, for instance, insist that you must have relatives in the area you are wishing to move to, in order to be eligible. You should check with your own landlord as early as possible.

When you mutually exchange, you take on responsibility for the condition of the property as if you were the previous tenant. That means that any repair, redecoration and cleaning become your responsibility. The Council must still undertake repairs for which it had a statutory or contractual responsibility. The type of repairs that will be undertaken after an exchange are likely to vary from landlord to landlord. If in doubt check with your new landlord. The council will usually undertake a gas and an electrical check at the time of the exchange, though this is not universally the case.

It is pretty much up to the people involved to arrange a suitable moving date. However, you will have to agree a time with your landlord to visit their office and sign the necessary paperwork.

If you are claiming Income Support you might qualify for some help from the Benefits Agency (DSS). Hiring removal vans, disconnecting and reconnecting services and so on can be expensive. Find out about the costs before you agree to move.

HOMES tenant enquiry line is 020 7963 0223. And this is their website address:
http://www.homes.org.uk

Here are some other useful sites:
http://www.housingnet.co.uk
http://www.housinguk.org
http://www.loot.com
http://www.housing-x-change.com