Moving Home

Certain customers have the right to exchange their tenancy with other social tenants. This is known as a mutual exchange and is an agreement by two or more tenants to swap their homes.

You can exchange if you are a ‘lifetime’ assured or secure tenant or a fixed term tenant. You must have the permission of all landlords involved in the exchange, and must not owe us any rent.

Submit an application for a mutual exchange

We can refuse a mutual exchange if:

• the property is too big or small for your household;
• there is a possession order in place against either you or the other tenant;
• we have served a notice of seeking possession on you or the other tenant;
• we have served an antisocial behaviour injunction against you or the other tenant; or
• your home is for a disabled person or a person with other support needs and the person you are planning to exchange with does not meet the relevant conditions.

If you would like to buy a home of your own but can’t quite afford to, you might be eligible for shared ownership. Shared ownership helps people who cannot afford to buy a home outright. You buy a share of one of our shared-ownership properties and pay rent on the share you do not own. Gradually, you can buy more shares and eventually own all of your home. Please visit our website or phone us for details. For more information about shared ownership check out our shared ownership and private sales brand, BE WEST.

You may be eligible for the Right to Acquire scheme which helps tenants buy their home at a reduced price. To be eligible your property must have Right to Acquire status and you must have been a social tenant for a certain amount of time. Contact us for more information and to apply, customer.service@sbhg.co.uk 

Sheltered housing is accommodation for people over 55. Customers get a self-contained independent property and most schemes also have some communal facilities such as a lounge or garden. You will also have a Scheme Assistant who will be your first point of contact for any housing issues. All applications for sheltered schemes are made through Locata, but waiting lists for sheltered accommodation are much shorter than other types of housing.

Who can apply?

• Residents over 55.

• Residents without rent arrears or serious tenancy breaches.

The Seaside and Country Homes scheme offers customers over 60 years old, the opportunity to move out of London to properties in rural and seaside areas. The scheme is very popular and priority is given to households who are giving up larger accommodation. For more information you can please visit the Seaside & Country Homes website.

Who can apply?

 • Households living in council or housing association homes in Greater London where at least one member of the household is aged 60 or above.

 • In cases where other members of the households are under 60 years of age they must be either the partner, joint tenant or registered carer of the lead applicant.

• There can only be a maximum of two people on the application.

 • Applicants with rent arrears will not be accepted.

For transfers on medical grounds, you can complete our online form and we will be in touch with how we can help.

Submit your transfer medical assessment form

You can now request a refund if you have moved out of a SBHA property or if you have built up a large amount of credit.

 Before completing a rent refund form, please ensure the following:

• As per your tenancy agreement you must remain 4 weeks/1 month in credit after the refund.
• Both tenancy holders will need to complete a rent refund form.
• If you are in receipt of Housing benefit or Universal credit, please be aware it can take up to six weeks to process your refund. This is because we will need to contact your local Council before processing your refund to check if there are any overpayments or changes to your benefits.

Submit a refund request