The City of Cardiff Council has been recognised for its work in helping tenants who want to exchange homes in the city with the HomeSwapper Star Landlord Award 2014.
Homeswapper is the UK’s largest home swapping scheme for social housing tenants looking to exchange homes and provides Council tenants with free access to its website to research their options and find potential matches with other tenants also looking to swap.
The award recognises how the Council has engaged with the mutual exchange service on the Homeswapper website as a real solution for tenants affected by the under occupancy charge or ‘bedroom tax’ by running swapping events, and having staff undertake HomeSwapper training to make sure they achieve the best from the platform.
As a result, a total of 301 swaps have been completed in Cardiff in the last 12 months placing the Council at the top of the list for this year.
Cabinet Member for Health, Housing and Wellbeing, Cllr Susan Elsmore, said: “I’m delighted Cardiff has been so successful in facilitating exchanges in the city by helping people to find matches for potential swaps.
“All that tenants looking to exchange need is internet access to register on the site, and if they don’t have access Council officers can help them to register. Tenants may want to exchange homes for a variety of reasons but obviously since the introduction of the ‘bedroom tax’, mutual exchange has become a vital option for residents to avoid getting into rent arrears.
“The award is credit to the hard work of all staff involved in the service.”
Over 1,400 tenants are currently registered on the Homeswapper site. Tenants provide details of their current home and the property they would like to move to and the Council approves the application if they are a secure tenant with no rent arrears. They are then notified of any potential matches and able to contact the match to discuss the exchange and arrange viewing of each property. If a match is agreed, tenants complete a Council exchange request form and the exchange is processed in the usual way within 42 days.
Tenants without access to the internet can visit the city centre Advice Hub at Marland House or any of the community hubs across the city to use the computers there to register on Homeswapper with the assistance of hub staff.
City of Cardiff Council Chief Executive, Paul Orders, Director of Communities, Housing and Customer Service, Sarah McGill and Tenant and Leaseholder Services Manager, Ellen Curtis accepted the award this week from Business Development Executive, Jamie Dudley of Housing Partners Ltd, the company behind Homeswapper.
Richard Blundell, CEO of Housing Partners, the company behind HomeSwapper, the UK’s largest mutual exchange service, commented: “The progress across the board in mutual exchange has been significant this year – with 25% more swaps taking place through HomeSwapper than last year, in a climate significantly affected by welfare reform. Cardiff is one of the most successful landlords in the whole UK this year, with over 300 swaps completed. Their promotion of home swapping, and the dedication of their staff has shown just what this housing option can do for tenants.
On the back of the awards, Housing Partners intend to produce a ‘top tips’ guide based on the lessons learned from this year’s winners. Blundell explains: “With home swapping now a really vital housing option in the wake of welfare reform, it’s essential that landlords take it seriously. We know that there is no substitute for hard work when it comes to home swapping, and these six landlords are leading the pack. Their advice and guidance will help other landlords to reach this level – and to stand a chance of winning the award next year.”
For more information on exchanging, contact the Housing Enquiries team on 029 205 37111, e-mail [email protected] or visit the HomeSwapper website at www.homeswapper.co.uk
