UK Housing: How to Transfer to Another Council Borough Easily

Being a housing association tenant or council tenant is great. It costs less than renting from private landlords, and housing association tenants benefit from one of the most important social programs in the country today. On the other hand, if you need to move from one council or housing association region to another, things can become a little messy. Council or housing associations are managed by local borough councils, and there is a lot of bureaucracy involved in moving from one borough to another.

Reasons to move to another council home

You may want to become a housing association tenant of another housing association for a wide range of reasons, including if you:

• Find your current home too small for your needs
• Are looking to spend less on rent toward your housing association
• Your current home doesn’t meet the disability or health needs you are having, and the current housing association can’t meet them
• You need a ground floor flat due to mobility issues or health needs
• You want a new home in a new housing association

How do I apply for a transfer from one borough to another?

You will need to apply for the so called “tenancy transfer”. This is basically the process of moving from an occupied council or housing association home to an empty one. Alternatively, you can consider a mutual exchange, where you swap homes with another council tenant, provided you follow the specific rules and obtain permission from your landlord. If you want to relocate from one borough to another, you should research the desired location. The council website should contain all the information about currently available council homes in the area. You should read the criteria listed to know if you qualify for a place there. The application process also happens through the council that you want to relocate to, instead of the one in your current borough. You can register online and apply for a transfer.

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How does a mutual exchange work?

Each local council has its own rules regarding council home exchange. One thing that few people think about when applying to swap homes through a council exchange is that they need permission from their landlord to have their current contract terminated. Naturally, no one can force you to stay in any given place. However, if you don’t get that private landlord permission, you might be breaking your tenancy contract. This can affect your chances of getting a new council or tenancy association home.

Who gets the highest priority for council housing or country homes scheme with a local connection?

There are a few groups of people who are deemed in a more vulnerable position than the rest when it comes to council and housing associations. Because of this, they have a priority and significantly higher chances to qualify for council housing than others:

• People who are homeless or live at risk of violence, such as victims of domestic abuse from other family members
• People currently living in extremely bad, or even dangerous conditions, such as homes that are in an urgent need of repairs, or have severe drain and sewage problems
• People living in overcrowded conditions – typically in homes that don’t have a separate bedroom for every couple, adult over 21 or two children or your people up to 20 years of age.
• People who need to move to another council or hosing association for health, welfare or disability reasons

You should know there are council and housings associations that give extra priority points to other groups of people – for instance if you have a local connection. When researching moving into the borough of choice, contact your desired local council to learn more about these groups.

When all details of your moving from one borough council or housing association to another are resolved, you can count on The London Man with Van to help you with the physical relocation of your stuff to your new home.