BBC Documentaries

Swap My Council House (2014x225)

Air date: Oct 14, 2014

Swap My Council House charts the growing phenomenon of the mutual exchange - where social housing tenants simply swap their homes in order to move house. Since the introduction of the spare room subsidy or so-called bedroom tax last year, there has been a massive upsurge in the number of tenants needing to move. And many of them are resorting to swapping to downsize, upsize, or build a new life hundreds of miles away. But just how easy is it to swap? We follow five groups and families who are hoping to move, to reveal first hand the truth about home swapping. Devon cabbie Cheryl McCarthy and her family are about to complete a 300-mile swap from Plymouth to Eccles, Greater Manchester - she thinks Manchester will provide a better life for her children. Cheryl is swapping homes with Jeni Burdett and partner Keith Ainger who want to live closer to the sea. Claire Webb and her family are involved in a rather more complicated three-way swap. But will a faulty electrical inspection scupper the whole move? Some tenants live in homes no-one fancies swapping to. Francis Harris from Vange needs to downsize as a matter of urgency as she can't afford the spare room tax, but sadly there's no queue of potential swappers for Vange, a former mining village near Basildon. And former model and actress Jenny Rainbird, who wants to upsize to a two-bedroom in Wimbledon, is also stuck - her one-bed flat in leafy Epson is proving hard to swap - possibly because it's painted bright pink throughout. And while some tenants are stuck in seemingly unswappable homes, others can't stop swapping - we meet Jane Martin who has moved from one council house to another 18 times.