Westminster Council House Transfer and the 42-Day Swap

A Westminster council house transfer is how an existing council tenant asks to move to a different council or housing association home. There are two routes, and they work very differently. A transfer puts you into the same bidding system as everyone on the housing register, and it only gets you priority if you are overcrowded or have a medical reason to move. A mutual exchange, where you swap homes with another social tenant, needs no priority at all, and the council has to decide on it within 42 days.

Everything here comes from Westminster City Council’s own tenant pages and its mutual exchange guide, as published in October 2026.

Route 1: applying for a transfer

You fill in the council’s tenant transfer application form. If you are asking to move on medical grounds, you also complete a medical assessment form, one for each person in the household with a medical condition. Signing it gives the Housing Solutions Service consent to contact your GP or other health professional.

The Housing Solutions Service then decides whether you qualify under one of its priority need groups and tells you in writing.

Two things will stop a transfer:

• Rent arrears of more than one week. The council says your application will be suspended.
• Serious anti-social behaviour. If anyone in the household has behaved badly enough to make them unsuitable as a tenant, including a conviction for offences such as theft or public disorder, you will not be eligible.

Bidding once you are registered

Westminster lets homes through choice based lettings on Home Connections, the same system used by people on the housing register. Properties appear on a Wednesday and bids close at midnight the following Sunday. Our page on the Westminster housing register explains the bands, how many homes are let in each, and why the wait for a family-sized home is so long.

If you bid on a housing association home, check the tenancy before you sign. The council warns that housing associations offer a different type of tenancy agreement and advises taking legal advice first.

The priority groups that matter for tenants

Westminster’s allocations scheme changed in March 2025. Two priority groups added in September 2025 are aimed at the households most likely to need a transfer:

• Medical and Severely Overcrowded Priority Group, for households facing both problems at once.
• Cumulative Medical Priority, for households where two or more members have a medical need.

The council also introduced an Overcrowded Family Offer, with financial and practical support for household members who want to move out of an overcrowded home, and a Next Generation Scheme that lets some adult household members with caring responsibilities or additional needs join the register in their own right.

Route 2: mutual exchange

A mutual exchange lets you swap your home with another council or housing association tenant anywhere in the UK. As a Westminster council tenant you have a legal right to swap, provided the council consents, and it says it will not withhold consent unreasonably.

Who you can swap with: Westminster tenants with a secure or flexible tenancy, tenants of other councils with a secure or flexible tenancy, and housing association tenants with an assured tenancy.

Where to find a swap

These services are free for Westminster council tenants:

• Homeswapper, which the council funds for its tenants.
• HomefinderUK.
• House Exchange.
• Seaside and Country Homes, the Mayor of London’s scheme for households where someone is aged 60 or over, with more than 3,000 bungalows and flats outside London.
• Housing Moves, the Mayor’s scheme, which Westminster lists for domestic abuse survivors who are current tenants and for former rough sleepers.

When the council can say no

The council’s guide lists the grounds for refusal. The main ones are:

• possession proceedings have begun, a notice of seeking possession has been served, or a court has ordered either tenant to give up their home;
• the home would be too big or too small for the household moving in;
• the home is adapted for a disabled person and nobody in the incoming household needs those adaptations;
• the home is part of sheltered or other specialist housing;
• the home was let with a job, or sits in the grounds of a non-housing building such as a school.

The council can also attach conditions, for example that rent arrears are cleared before the swap goes ahead.

How the process runs

1. You find the exchange partner and view each other’s homes. The council will not find one for you.
2. You complete Westminster’s mutual exchange form; your partner applies to their own landlord. Joint tenants must both sign.
3. The council inspects your home. You can be charged for damage and asked to reverse alterations made without permission.
4. Each landlord sends the other a report on household size, arrears and any legal action.
5. The council must make a decision within 42 consecutive days. It says it tries to be quicker, but it depends on receiving the other landlord’s report.

Rules that catch people out

• No money can change hands. Charging or paying anyone to swap is illegal, and the council says you could be evicted for it.
• Do not move before both landlords consent. If you do, you and your partner become illegal occupiers, lose security of tenure and can be evicted.
• Either side can pull out until the deed of assignment is signed or the old tenancies are surrendered and new ones issued.
• Your rights may change. Moving to a housing association home means losing the Right to Buy, and your new tenancy type may differ. Get independent legal advice first.
• You take the home as you find it. The new landlord will not redecorate, and some repairs will be yours.

Downsizing and older tenants

If you swap into a smaller home through a mutual exchange, the council’s guide says you are eligible for a downsizing incentive payment. Westminster also refers tenants moving home to a cash incentive scheme, but it does not publish the current amounts online, so ask your housing officer what you would receive before you agree a move.

Tenants aged 60 or over can apply for the council’s residential blocks for older people: self-contained flats with communal facilities, a scheme manager and a 24-hour emergency alarm, some with on-site care. You register and bid for these through Home Connections in the usual way.

Who to contact

For a transfer, contact the Housing Solutions Service, which is run for the council by Places for People, on 020 7641 1000, or email HSSCustomerServices@westminster.gov.uk with further medical information. For a mutual exchange, speak to your housing manager. The council’s apply for a transfer page links to the current forms. If the move is because your home needs work rather than because it is the wrong size, our page on Westminster council housing repairs covers how to report it, and our disabled facilities grant page explains adaptations.

Frequently asked questions

How do I transfer my Westminster council house? Complete the tenant transfer application form, plus a medical assessment form if you are moving on medical grounds. The Housing Solutions Service decides whether you qualify for a priority group, and once registered you bid on Home Connections.

Can I get a transfer if I have rent arrears? Not while the arrears are more than one week; the council suspends the application. For a mutual exchange, the council can refuse or make clearing the arrears a condition.

How long does a mutual exchange take in Westminster? The council must decide within 42 consecutive days of receiving the application, and says it tries to be faster. The wait usually depends on the other landlord’s report.

Can I swap my Westminster council flat with someone outside London? Yes. A mutual exchange can be with any council or housing association tenant in the UK, and Seaside and Country Homes offers homes outside London for households where someone is 60 or over.

Do I get paid to downsize in Westminster? The council says tenants who downsize through a mutual exchange are eligible for a downsizing incentive payment. Ask your housing officer for the current amount, as it is not published online.

Can I pay someone to swap council houses? No. Charging or paying a fee for a mutual exchange is illegal, and the council says it could lead to eviction.