Right to Buy After a Mutual Exchange: Do You Keep It?

It depends on who you swap with. If you're a council tenant in England and you swap with another council tenant, you normally keep your Right to Buy, and your years as a tenant still count. If you swap into a housing association home on an assured tenancy, you lose the Right to Buy, though you may get the smaller Right to Acquire instead.

Here's how it works, so you can check before you sign anything.

Who Has The Right To Buy

In England, the Right to Buy is for secure tenants, which usually means council tenants. Housing association tenants usually have an assured tenancy instead, and don't have it, with one exception: the preserved Right to Buy, covered below.

You also need to have been a public sector tenant for long enough. That time doesn't have to be in one home, or with one landlord.

Your Years As A Tenant Don't Reset

The time that counts towards the Right to Buy is your time as a public sector tenant, not your time in one particular home. Years with a council, a housing association and some other public bodies can all count, and they don't have to be in a row.

So a swap doesn't start the clock again. If you've been a council tenant for eight years and swap to another council home, you still have eight years behind you. The Right to Buy belongs to you, not the home: the tenant moving into your old home brings their own years with them.

Swapping Council To Council

When two secure tenants swap, each of you takes over the other's secure tenancy. That's true even if the two homes belong to different councils. You keep the Right to Buy, and you can apply to buy your new home once you're in it, as long as the home itself can be bought.

Some homes can't be bought under the Right to Buy, such as sheltered housing for older people. If you swap into one of those, you won't be able to buy that home.

Swapping Into A Housing Association Home

If you swap your council home for a housing association home, you'll usually take over the other tenant's assured tenancy. You lose the Right to Buy, because it only comes with a secure tenancy.

You might get the Right to Acquire instead. It applies to some housing association homes, mainly ones built or bought with public money after 31 March 1997. The discount is a fixed amount and much smaller than the Right to Buy discount. Ask the housing association whether the home qualifies before you swap.

It works the other way too. A housing association tenant who swaps into a council home usually takes over a secure tenancy, and with it the Right to Buy, with their past years as a social tenant counting towards it.

If You Have The Preserved Right To Buy

If you were a council tenant when your home was transferred to a housing association, you may have the preserved Right to Buy. This is the one to be most careful with.

It's personal to you, and many housing associations say you lose it if you swap with a tenant of a different landlord. Some let you keep it if you swap within their own homes. In at least one Housing Ombudsman case, a tenant's preserved Right to Buy ended at the mutual exchange, leaving only the smaller Right to Acquire. Ask your landlord in writing before you agree to a swap.

If You've Already Applied To Buy

A Right to Buy application is for one particular home. If you swap before the sale completes, the application for your old home ends, and you'd need to make a new one for your new home once you've moved. If you're close to buying, think carefully about whether to swap now or after.

How Much Discount You Might Get

Since 21 November 2024, the maximum Right to Buy discount in England has been between £16,000 and £38,000, depending on the council area. That's much lower than it was, so the discount alone may no longer be a reason to stay put rather than swap.

In 2026 the government also confirmed further changes, including a longer qualifying period (10 years instead of 3), smaller percentage discounts, and protection for newly built council homes. Check GOV.UK's Right to Buy guide for the rules that apply on the day you apply.

Wales And Scotland

The Right to Buy has ended in both. It closed in Scotland in 2016 and in Wales in 2019, for council and housing association tenants alike, so swapping won't change anything there. Northern Ireland has its own house sales scheme with different rules.

Questions To Ask Before You Swap

1. What tenancy will I get? Secure or assured? Your landlord and the other tenant's landlord can tell you.
2. Do I have the preserved Right to Buy, and will I lose it by swapping?
3. Can the new home be bought? Or is it excluded, such as sheltered housing?
4. Does the new home qualify for the Right to Acquire if it's a housing association home?

Get the answers in writing. If you're unsure, Shelter or Citizens Advice can help.

The Short Answer

A swap doesn't reset your years as a tenant. Swapping council to council usually keeps your Right to Buy. Swapping into a housing association home usually loses it, though you may get the Right to Acquire. And if you have the preserved Right to Buy, check with your landlord before you swap, because you could lose it.

See what happens to your tenancy on a swap in what happens to my tenancy after a mutual exchange, compare landlords in our landlord directory, or list your home and start looking.