Part of: Your council tenancy
Assignment means legally transferring a tenancy from one person to another during the lifetime of the tenant.
The assignee will inherit all the rights and responsibilities of the previous tenant, including payment of outstanding arrears. Assignments can only be made to someone who would be able to succeed to the home if the tenant died as set out in the section on succession above. Assignments count as a succession and can only occur if there has not already been a succession of that tenancy.
Mutual exchange is the process through which two or more secure tenants in council housing or housing associations can agree to swap their tenancies and properties.
In all cases, our permission is required before a mutual exchange can take place. If a tenant carries out a mutual exchange without our permission, then they will no longer be a secure tenant, and we may take legal action to recover the property.