Customers who are looking to exchange their homes can register their current property on Mutual Exchange Manager. They can also register their preferences for the type of property and the area they are hoping to live in.

Once a potential exchange is identified, housing staff are notified automatically so they may broker the exchange for the customers.

Most tenants who apply for transfer only want to move a few miles – so a local mutual exchange system is a powerful tool for the majority of applicants.

However, LHS Mutual Exchange Manager can be easily linked between any local authority currently using LHS products. So, for example, the West London scheme offers mutual exchange across seven London boroughs.

HomeSwap Direct

The LHS Mutual Exchange Manager links into the national mutual exchange system called HomeSwap Direct. 

LHS is one of four existing providers of local Mutual Exchange systems which now share information between themselves. By signing up to one, tenants can see housing swaps available across the country.

The other providers of Mutual Exchange systems that form the national HomeSwap Direct service with LHS are House Exchange, Abritas, and Homeswapper. A copy of the Members Agreement between the four companies can be found at this link...

Mutual exchange enables mobility without challenging any local lettings policies as the landlords on both sides of the exchange are merely changing the occupants of the household rather than the status of the property.

When tenants who wish to exchange put the details of their current property on the public website, the information first gets loaded on to the LHS back office so that staff are able to check the advert for accuracy and acceptability. They can also check that the applicant is not trying to exchange with a property that is not appropriate to their housing need.

Once satisfied that all is in order staff set the request to “live” so that it is automatically loaded onto the public website and the transfer tenant is free to search for an exchange.