Help Centre — Home Swap Questions Answered

A mutual exchange (home swap) is when two or more social housing tenants agree to swap their homes with each other. If you're a council tenant or housing association tenant, you have a legal right to apply for a mutual exchange under the Housing Act 1985. Both (or all) landlords must approve the swap before it can go ahead.

MutualExchange is designed for UK social housing tenants — that means council tenants and housing association tenants. You must be the named tenant on your tenancy agreement (Housing Act 1985, Part IV). If you're a private renter, leaseholder, or homeowner, this platform is not suitable for you.

Yes! Free accounts can browse all listings, create your own listing, reply to messages from other swappers, save up to 3 properties, and see match percentages. Premium (£1.99/month, currently free until September 2026) adds extras like sending messages first, 15 photos, swap tracker, chain builder, who viewed your listing, and more.

MutualExchange was built by a team with real housing sector experience who were frustrated by what was already out there. Key differences: we show honest match results (no fake matches to fill a page), we have urgency indicators so you know who is actually ready, labelled photos so you can tell rooms apart, notifications that actually arrive, and no public profile comments that enable bullying.

Click "List Your Home" or "Sign Up" on the homepage. You'll need your email address and a password. We'll send you a verification email — click the link to confirm your account. Then you can create your property listing.

No. You never need to pay MutualExchange to find a home swap. Free accounts can browse, list, and reply to messages. Premium adds convenience features but is not required to swap. Note: some social landlords may require 1–4 weeks rent in advance when you move into your new property — check with your landlord.

Once you're logged in, go to "List Your Home" from the navigation. Fill in your property details (postcode, type, bedrooms, features), upload at least 3 photos, describe what you're looking for, and set your urgency status. The whole process takes about 5 minutes.

You need at least 3 photos to publish your listing. Free accounts can upload up to 3 photos, and Premium accounts can upload up to 15. We strongly recommend labelling your photos (e.g. "Kitchen", "Bedroom 1") — listings with labelled photos get significantly more messages.

The urgency status tells other users how ready you are to swap. Choose from: "Ready now" (you're actively looking and ready to go), "Within 6 months" (you're planning a move soon), "Exploring" (open to the right offer), or "Just browsing" (no immediate plans). This helps people know whether to contact you.

Yes, you can edit your listing at any time from your dashboard. Changes are saved immediately. You can also unpublish your listing temporarily if you need a break from enquiries.

Unlike other platforms, we never show you fake matches just to fill a page. If there are 0 exact matches for your criteria, we tell you that clearly. We'll show you the closest nearby alternatives with an explanation of why they're not exact matches, and you can set alerts to be notified when a real match lists.

A 3-way swap (or chain) involves three tenants, each moving into one of the other's homes. For example: Tenant A moves to B's home, Tenant B moves to C's home, and Tenant C moves to A's home. Our Chain Builder tool (Premium) makes these easy — add members as you find them, map who moves where visually, and generate landlord-ready documents with one click. Chains can be up to 10 people.

Premium (£1.99/month, currently free until September 2026) includes:

• Send messages to anyone
• Read receipts on messages
• Up to 15 photos per listing
• Unlimited saved searches & alerts
• Unlimited shortlist
• Swap tracker with landlord document generation
• Swap chain builder (up to 10-way)
• See who viewed and saved your listing
• Boosted visibility in search

See full comparison →

Go to Settings > Subscription in your dashboard and click "Cancel subscription". Your Premium features will remain active until the end of your current billing period. Your data is never deleted — you simply return to the Free tier.

If a payment fails, Stripe will automatically retry. You'll receive an email asking you to update your card. Your account stays Premium for 7 days (grace period). If the payment isn't resolved after 7 days, your account is downgraded to Free. All your data is kept — you can resubscribe at any time and everything is instantly restored.

Go to Settings > Delete Account. Your account enters a 30-day soft delete period, during which you can recover it by logging back in. After 30 days, all personal data is permanently removed in accordance with GDPR. Anonymised swap statistics may be retained.

Yes. We use industry-standard security: SSL encryption on all connections, bcrypt password hashing, CSRF protection, and regular backups. We never store your payment card details — that's handled securely by Stripe. Your exact address is never displayed publicly. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

You can flag any user privately from their profile page. Flags go to our moderation team for review. You can also email us at support@mutualexchange.uk for any issues. We take safety and trust seriously.

The basic process is:

1. List your home and search for matches.
2. Contact someone you're interested in and agree to explore a swap.
3. Both of you apply to your respective landlords for approval.
4. The landlords check references, rent arrears, property condition, and bedroom eligibility.
5. If both landlords approve, you agree a move date and complete the swap.

The whole process typically takes 6–12 weeks from initial agreement.

Yes. Under the Housing Act 1985, your landlord must give written consent for a mutual exchange. They can only refuse on specific legal grounds (e.g. rent arrears, court proceedings, the property would be overcrowded). If your landlord refuses, they must give you written reasons, and you have the right to appeal. If you believe your landlord has refused unreasonably, Citizens Advice can help you appeal.

Most councils follow the "bedroom standard" — a set of rules about how many bedrooms your household needs. For example, a couple needs 1 bedroom, each pair of same-sex children under 16 can share, and children of different sexes over 10 need separate rooms. Your council may not approve a swap if it would leave you over- or under-occupying. Our eligibility guide helps you understand what you're entitled to before you waste time pursuing an unsuitable swap. For more details on the bedroom standard, see GOV.UK guidance on bedroom eligibility.

Unfortunately, people pulling out is one of the most frustrating parts of home swapping. This is exactly why we built urgency indicators — so you can prioritise people who are genuinely ready. We also display last-active dates so you can avoid messaging people who haven't logged in for months. If you're let down repeatedly by the same person, you can flag them privately.

Yes! You can swap between different councils and different housing associations. Both landlords need to approve. This is one of the biggest advantages of mutual exchange — it's one of the few ways to move between council areas without going back on the housing register.

Landlords cannot charge you for processing a mutual exchange application. However, there are costs to be aware of:

Rent in advance — some social landlords require 1–4 weeks rent in advance when you move into your new property. Check with your landlord before committing.

Moving costs — removals, van hire, redirecting post, etc.

Property condition — some landlords require you to bring the property up to a standard before leaving (filling holes, cleaning).

Utilities — final meter readings, new account setup fees.

Using MutualExchange itself is free; Premium is optional.