Shapps unveils ‘house swap’ plans for tenants
A Conservative government would introduce a ‘nationwide affordable house swap’ scheme to make it easier for tenants to move, it was revealed today.
Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps outlined the proposals while also announcing the party is to establish a housing industry forum to find solutions to the current lack of mobility.
The swap scheme would give tenants ‘the chance to relocate by exchanging their home for another one, anywhere in the country’, said Mr Shapps.
‘If you are a social tenant, you don’t have the same opportunities as other renters or homeowners,’ he said.
‘The system means that your aspirations are squeezed, your expectations lowered, and your horizons are limited.’
It builds on the party’s proposals for a ‘right to move’ pilot scheme announced earlier this year in which tenants with ‘five years of good behaviour’ are given the chance to demand their property is sold by their social landlord and the proceeds used to buy another home elsewhere.
The housing industry forum will be chaired by David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation.
‘It will be a serious opportunity to meet the aspirations of tenants who want to move,’ said Mr Orr. ‘I expect the taskforce to examine a number of ideas to make it easier for tenants to move throughout the country.
‘The federation has already put forward its own proposals on how access to social housing can be improved for tenants wishing to move, whether that be to take up employment or because they’re overcrowded, or for any other reason.’
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