You will need Raven s written permission before you make the swap.

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1 Mutual exchanges

2 Raven If you want to move, a mutual exchange is often a good idea. It means you swap your home for another tenant s home. A big advantage is that it can give you more choice about where you live. You will need Raven s written permission before you make the swap. You can swap with: another Raven tenant, or a tenant from any council and most housing associations in the UK. It is up to you to find someone to swap with, but we can help. We have lists of people wanting to exchange at our main office at Raven House and at our Neighbourhood Shop on Marbles Way. If, after reading this leaflet, you would like advice or information on mutual exchanges, please contact Customer Services. You can get a mutual exchange application form by calling Who can exchange? Most of our tenants can exchange but please check first that you have an assured tenancy. Most new tenants cannot exchange for the first year of their tenancy, or until their tenancy is converted to assured. There may be other tenancy conditions that affect your ability to exchange if you are not sure, please contact us. 1

3 Finding someone to exchange with We take part in a free exchange system called Homeswapper. This is a nationwide register of all those tenants who want to move. Your first step is to register with Homeswapper and us. You can do this online at www. homeswapper.co.uk, or our Customer Services staff will be able to send you the forms. If you need help to complete them, please ask a member a staff. As you are trying to attract other tenants, you may want to include photos of your home with the form. You could also list the advantages of your home is it near the shops, the station, a park, a leisure centre or a good school? You may want to advertise or check for a swap in local shops or papers. And it helps if you can take your pictures on a sunny day! After Homeswapper receives your form, they will send us details of possible exchanges. We make them available at our offices and you can then contact the tenants yourself. You can also look through the lists of Raven tenants wanting exchanges; these are kept at our main office at Raven House as well as at our Neighbourhood Shop on Marbles Way. Important: It is a criminal offence to pay or receive payments to swap your home. Next steps When you have found someone to exchange with, you must both complete our application form. We will arrange to visit you to inspect your home. It is your responsibility to check the home you want to move to carefully and thoroughly. We will also ask for a report from the other tenant s landlord about the home you want to move to and the tenant who wants to move into your home. You should not make plans to move until you have written consent from both the other tenant s landlord and us. 2

4 Raven Making a decision By law, we must give you a decision within 42 days of receiving all the forms and necessary information. Here are some of the reasons why we may refuse permission to exchange: Either tenant is in rent arrears. We will ask the tenant to clear the debt before the exchange goes ahead. Either home is too large or too small for the new tenant. For instance, if there are too many or too few bedrooms. Either home is specially adapted to help people with disabilities and the new tenant does not need the adaptation. Your home is not in good repair we may then ask you to carry out repairs before we give permission. What happens next? After the exchange has been agreed, Raven must make essential property checks. We will make property checks as quickly as possible but the move cannot proceed until we have done them, so good communication is essential at this stage. We will then invite both parties to our office to sign a legal deed of assignment, which transfers the tenancies. To avoid any disappointment, please telephone us before making any removal plans. Once all tenants have completed the deed of assignment, you can move! 3

5 Things to check As you are taking over the existing tenant s tenancy, there may be some changes to your tenancy conditions. This can happen even if both of you are tenants of the Trust. It is important to find out what these are. So you should check with your new landlord: What is the rent? Is there a separate service charge? What kind of tenancy would I have? Would I have the Right to Buy or Right to Acquire? Is the home in good condition? Will I be responsible for any existing repairs? Repairs A condition of mutual exchanges is that each tenant accepts the home in the condition it is in, although we will still carry out repairs for which we are responsible. If the home you are moving to has had any improvements or alterations carried out by its tenants, you may be expected to take on their maintenance. You will also be asked to sign a disclaimer saying that if certain items fail, the landlord may repair or replace them to a different standard or even remove them without replacement. 4

6 Raven Customer Charter Our Customer Charter sets out the standards of service you can expect from us. You can pick up a copy at any of our offices, or download a copy from our website, We can provide this leaflet in audio, large print and other languages. Please let us know what you need. Raven Housing Trust Raven House, 29 Linkfield Lane, Redhill RH1 1SS Telephone May 2012 Raven Housing Trust Limited is a charitable Industrial and Provident Society, registration no R, and is registered as a social housing provider with the Homes and Communities Agency, registration no. L4334.