Swap your home with a Mutual Exchange
If you have a secure, assured, or fixed-term tenancy with us, you may be eligible to swap your home through a mutual exchange. This involves exchanging homes with another social housing tenant, whether they rent from us (SNG), another housing association, or a local council.
Mutual exchange might be right for you if you:
- Live in an overcrowded home
- Are under-occupying your home
- Want to move to a different area for work or family reasons.
How to find your new home
We've partnered with Homeswapper , a free online service that connects tenants with suitable properties.
You can search for homes based on location, minimum and maximum number of bedrooms, and rent. You can also filter your search based on type of tenancy, special provision, level of urgency and property features.
You must enter information about your current home into the website. The more information you put, the more likely you will be successful. You need to include information such as its size, type of property, location, special features and rent.
(If you're not online, most local libraries offer online access or we have computers in our Wembley and Hertford offices that you can use. Visit our Getting online page for information on other support from SNG.)
After you have found a home to exchange you must apply to us for permission.
While a mutual exchange can take a number of months, we will work to get you moved as soon as we can.
Please check the information below for more details, including reasons why we may not give you permission to exchange.
HomeSwapper is an online mutual exchange service which lets you advertise your property and find someone to swap with. It’s free to use for SNG customers.
If you haven’t found a swap partner yet:
- Register your details on HomeSwapper
and wait to receive messages from interested parties. Think about the affordability of homes you're interested in.
- When you find a swap partner, on your dashboard, click the Found a swap? button. You’ll see a new dashboard, which shows you what stage you’re at in your mutual exchange.

- Once information from all parties has been added, our Mutual Exchange team will get an alert to start the process.
- They’ll then let you know within 42 days if your exchange has been provisionally approved. If it has, it can take up to about three months to move. (Please read our Are you mutual exchange ready? tab below for tips to avoid any delays.)
All communication from us will be done through Swaptracker (the system used to take you through the mutual exchange) and the other way round: you can message us directly in your account and we will come back to you.
If you have found a swap partner and are ready to submit an application, you will need to register on HomeSwapper and follow all of the steps above.
Not digitally-confident? Call us and we will put you in touch with one of the Mutual Exchange team to explain how they can help.
Before applying to all of the landlords for approval to exchange, check the following applies:
- I have a secure, assured or fixed term tenancy.
- My rent account is clear.
- I don’t owe any former rent, court costs or recharges.
- There’s no active Notice of Intention to Begin Proceedings for Possession of a Property, Notice Seeking Possession, or court order against my tenancy.
- There are no repairs outstanding that I haven’t reported.
- My home and garden are in a clean, tidy and good condition.
- The people applying to move into my home are suitable for it.
Making it a positive experience
A mutual exchange is a really great way to offer flexibility and an opportunity to relocate. To ensure a smooth process, we encourage you to:
- Carefully consider your decision
- Leave your home in the same clean and clear condition you'd expect from your exchange partner
We cannot take responsibility for any unresolved issues between tenants, so it’s essential to address these directly with your exchange partner.
Learn more
Have a read through our FAQ section below to see if a mutual exchange is right for you - and to understand what to expect throughout the process.