The information below is a guide, so you must contact your new landlord yourself and not rely on any information provided by us, as this is a general guide to provide you with information that you will need to check yourself before completing the paperwork for a mutual home swap exchange.

When tenants exchange under a mutual home swap, the tenants will find that certain maintenance will not be carried out in the new property for up to 12 months. So check the condition of what is going to be your new home very carefully.

Internal door Broken, locks, kitchen units, broken windows, sink plugs, door handles, washing lines, fences and gates, faulty taps, damp patches, condensation, missing roof tiles, broken external guttering and down pipes, there is an endless list of what would be listed as minor repairs that are not a danger to your family.

You will still have the right to have items fixed that are dangerous or could prove a threat to your family such as faulty electrics or gas appliances and water leaks not caused by poorly plumbed washing machines and dishwashers.

Once a year every social housing property will have a safety check done on all gas appliances, in some cases your electrics may also be checked. Look on the boiler and the meters to see if a sticker has been added dating the last check. Sometimes tenants may have been giving paperwork for their records, you can ask for this, or the details may be included in a tenant’s handbook.

Before you hand in any applications for an exchange it is advisable to all parties involved to check the new home thoroughly, and ask the other party to put in for the job to be repaired

So make sure that you are happy with everything as once the exchange application paperwork have been handed in, the jobs that are outstanding will be completed, but once you have moved in new jobs will not usually be done.

 

• Not all landlords allow the erecting of Satellite dishes or CB ariel’s so ask prior to handing in your exchange applications.
• Something else you make want to check at the same time is access to cable and broadband.
• Also note some areas are not able to receive freeview the digital tv top set boxes.

 
 
*We have provided a check list for you to use, please check our resources section of the website