ANDIUM Homes has confirmed that tenants are only allowed to swap properties in “rare and exceptional cases”.
The social housing provider stressed that there is currently no formal home exchange scheme in place, with all housing moves instead routed through the Housing Gateway system.
Zoe Hibbs, Head of Communication and Client Services at Andium, said: “Home exchanges are only considered in very limited, exceptional circumstances – there is currently no home exchange scheme as such.”
She explained that vacant homes are allocated based on need via the Gateway, with around half of applicants already existing tenants looking to relocate.
Each case is assessed to ensure what she described as “fairness, transparency and that homes are made available to those in the greatest need.”
The clarification follows discussion within the Jersey Andium Home Exchange Facebook group, which has attracted almost 3,000 members.
Andium said its former exchange scheme – introduced more than 30 years ago – had become outdated and was no longer used.
While originally intended to help tenants move between similar-sized homes, it had increasingly been used by households whose needs had changed, raising concerns about fairness.
“The perception was that this allowed the queue to be jumped and ignored other households on the Gateway who may have been in greater need of a move,” Ms Hibbs explained, adding that this was “particularly unfair” to families not already in social housing.
She also highlighted risks linked to informal swaps, including unsuitable housing placements and additional costs.
“In some cases, we have had to fund costly adaptations or move tenants again after an exchange because the property was not suitable for their needs,” she said.
Andium added that exchanges can bypass key checks on medical requirements and property condition, while also presenting legal and administrative challenges such as data protection, rent arrears and compliance issues.
Requests to exchange homes will still be considered individually, but the organisation said such cases remain “very rare”.
