Moving home

If you already rent a home from us and want to move, you will need to contact your local authority and apply to be added to the Housing Register. If you are already registered with the local authority Housing Register and have queries about your application or banding, please contact the local authority who will be able to help you.

If you want to buy your current home
If you’ve been living in your home for over five years, you may be able to buy it under the Right to Buy scheme.

We have a management move list for very extreme circumstances where it may no longer be safe for you to stay in your current Paradigm home. Please note that management moves are only used in exceptional situations where other options to move are unavailable.

If you want to move but your circumstances are not extreme, you may have other options that could help you such as –

• registering with the local authority for rehousing (where eligible),
• registering for a mutual exchange,
• exploring home ownership options,
• considering a move to the private sector.

What are the criteria for a management move?

We will consider a management move application if:

• you are fleeing violence or harassment and need to move to a place of safety,
• the current property requires an adaption which cannot take place in that home, so is unsuitable,
• you would like to downsize as your home is too big and you want to move to a smaller home.  N.b. No member/s of the household are to be made homeless by making this application.

All applications must be supported by professional third parties, like the police, social services, occupational health therapist etc.

Our management move process is not there to address over occupation, so if you are looking to move because you are overcrowded (you don’t have enough bedrooms in your home) please contact your local authority.

Due to the demand on social housing, we are limited on the number of management moves we can complete due to local authority agreements; in some local authority areas we are not permitted to carry out any management moves at all.

We cannot provide a timescale for a management move as this is dependent on properties becoming available, and we are unable to pay for removals or other associated costs.

How to apply for a management move

Please contact your Customer & Neighbourhood Officer to make an application to go on our management move list.

Your Customer and Neighbourhood officer will complete the form with you and must inspect your home.

What next?

All management move applications are considered by a panel of managers, who will decide if your case meets the criteria.  If not, you will be informed on other options to help you move.

The management move process only allows for one offer to be made and this will be discussed with you to ensure that it fully meets the criteria set out in the application.

Once you have been accepted for a management move, we will write to you to say you’ve been successful, and you will be added to the register.

The application must be reviewed every three months to keep your application live, to ensure that the management move is still required, to inspect your home, and to check your circumstances have not changed.

If there is a breach of your tenancy or if your home does not meet our standard, your application will be suspended for up to three months, or until the breach has been resolved or any works/damage have been put right.

If you are made an offer which meets the criteria set out in the application and this is refused, then you will be removed from the management move register.

It may feel that there are a lot of hurdles to overcome to get a management move, which is true.  Applications and the process are considered and reviewed regularly to ensure only customers in extreme circumstances are offered this option to move.

If you feel, having read this guidance, that you meet the criteria for a management move, then please contact your Customer and Neighbourhood Officer on 0300 303 1010.

A mutual exchange is where social housing tenants can swap properties with each other.

If you’re thinking of doing this you’ll need to visit the Homeswapper or Exchange Locata websites. You will then be contacted about any properties that are suitable for you.

HomeSwapper is a national service to help social housing tenants exchange homes.  A mutual exchange is a home swap between two social housing tenants. It can happen for many reasons, such as needing more (or less) space, moving for work or to be closer to family. It’s a great option for social housing tenants who can’t access or don’t want to wait for the normal allocation process. It gives you more control and means you’re able to choose a home that suits your needs better in a place you want to live. For more information, please refer to our information about HomeSwapper here.

Unfortunately, even though you’re already part of Paradigm, you won’t have priority over other people looking for a home in the same area.

Once you have someone you want to swap with you must apply to us for permission by downloading the application form at the bottom of this page.

We have to let you know about our decision within 42 days of receiving your application.

Things to remember are:

• You can only swap if you have a Secure, Assured or Five Year Fixed Term Assured Shorthold tenancy
• You cannot swap your home if we have started possession proceedings against your home, you have an anti-social behaviour order or your home won’t be suitable for the person you want to swap with.
• You will actually swap tenancies so will give up your current tenancy
• It is your responsibility to inspect the home you will be moving into.

Please contact your Customer and Neighbourhood Officer if you have any questions on 0300 303 1010.

If you want to end your tenancy with us you will need to do the following things:

If you wish to end your tenancy because you are moving permanently into a nursing or residential home or other form of supported accommodation please let us know as soon as possible. You are required to give us four weeks notice in writing to end the tenancy. Please fill in the Notice to Quit form (download the document below) and send it to us. We will then contact you to confirm the date that the tenancy will end.

Rent payments
Rent is due until the Monday following the day you return the keys, providing the signed end of tenancy form has been received. Any other outstanding debts to us, e.g. rent arrears and sundry debts, should be cleared. Please be aware that housing benefit cannot be claimed for two properties at once, i.e. for the nursing home and for your accommodation with us.

Clearing the property
Please clear the property (including the loft and any sheds) of all personal effects and furniture and leave the property in good condition. The garden must also be left in a tidy condition.

In sheltered accommodation, we may have supplied cookers and fridges. Please check before removing these items. We may have also supplied alarm pendants. If so, please make sure that they are returned to us.

Returning keys
Your Customer and Neighbourhood Officer can make an appointment to meet you or a relative at the property to collect the keys or, if it is more convenient, you can return the keys to us in person or via recorded delivery post by 12 noon on the Monday that the tenancy ends. You will continue to be charged for use and occupation of the property if the keys are returned late.

In order to end a tenancy on behalf of a deceased tenant, you need to provide us with a copy of the Grant of Probate confirming your status as executor of the estate. You must give us four weeks notice in writing to end the tenancy. If you have a copy of the Grant of Probate, please complete the Notice to Quit form (download the document below) and send it to us with a copy of the death certificate and the Grant of Probate. We will contact you to confirm the date that the tenancy will end.

If you are unable to provide a copy of the Grant of Probate, please complete the form and send it to us with a copy of the death certificate. We will then serve a Notice to Quit in order to end the tenancy.

Rent payments
Rent is due until the Monday after you return the end of tenancy form, death certificate and keys. Housing benefit will stop from the Monday after the date of death. Any other debts to Paradigm, for example rent arrears and sundry debts, should be cleared.

Clearing the property
Please clear the property including the loft and sheds of all personal effects and furniture and leave the property in good condition. The garden must also be left in a tidy condition. In sheltered accommodation we may have supplied cookers and fridges. Please check before removing these items.