getting confused and very stressed about possible exchange hope

hi to all have only just found this forum so hope it is the best place to ask for advice and answers that i cannot seem to get from phonecalls to anyone
we have a possible exchange with someone in rhyl and are possibly being told that we cannot exchange depending on if they do assigned tenancys
i will try and explain as best i can the info that i have been given by douglas graham which no matter how many times he says it it never really makes sense and any other housing/council or homeswap admin/sites do not understand it either so here goes and i really hope someone can clear this up as there is nothing in any legal documents or in our tenancy agreements or under the mutual exchange housing act 1985
we moved here in june of this year through a 4 way mutual exchange and signed papers as we thought was the norm. we were then told by mr douglas that we can not exchange again (which basically floored us thinking we are basically prisoners in this house and can never move again) i have asked him several times what he means and the only answer i basically get is that i need to find an exchange with someone who does or doesnt do assigned tenancys?? which apparently was a last minute decision by one of the other h.a. in our exchange (we were not told about till after we had moved here and signed papers) so he said we had to have the same agreement. i have asked several housing officers from other counties and they dont know anything about this ruling and it is getting us very frustrated and causing alot of arguements as we feel trapped somewhere where there is no chance of work and no chance of our grandkids staying as they simply could not afford hotel prices around here whereas in rhyl they have the chance of cheaper accomodation through caravan parks and i would hopefully have more chance of employment due to alot more industries.
have been told by nwha that we do have an assured tenancy though he states it is assigned? and we need to know whether we can take this exchange or not as i cant seem to get answers from anyone and feel that we were conned as we were not told anything about this assigned thing until after we had signed our what we thought was tenancy agreement and as we were already in the house we just thought it was the norm to sign a tenancy agreement also i should mention that some of the dates on the paper we signed had been altered and i dont know if that has any bearing on it being legal please can someone just explain and tell me if we can have an exchange (other party need to be here to be closer to parents) because like i say i cant seem to get answers from anyone and when i ask the other housing assoc. they dont really understand it either there is nothing about it on any searches or nothing please someone from admin explain and just tell me if i can exchange or if we are in fact imprisoned in this house till the day we die apart from going private which we do not want to do thx in advance ..pat

also we have no rent arrears, no damage etc, no nothing that can usually affect a move/swap as obviously all electrics gas etc were done recently

It was nice to talk to you, and hopefully you are now a little further on - depending of course now on how quickly the other landlord contacts you! But I thought it was worth putting an explanation on here, in case anyone else had a similar problem, so here goes!

If you move home by conducting a Mutual Exchange, then you should take on the same tenancy terms and conditions as the tenant who is the other half of the exchange. This means that you actually step "into each others' shoes". When the landlords first agree to let this happen, they should give you a Licence (or permission) to assign,and then a Deed of Assignment ( signing over the Tenancy) should take place. This way the whole process is done properly, and there is no chance that anything can go wrong - such as a tenant changing their minds and refusing to move!

However, some landlords just end the tenancies, and give new tenancies to both parties. This is not a problem if both sets of tenants have the same landlord and the same type of tenancy, but can sometimes result in one party ending up with less favourable terms. Also from the landlord's point of view, a new tenancy can create another right of succession - so for example, if the tenant wanting to move has already succeeded to her tenancy following the death of her husband, the tenancy should not pass on to anyone else on her death ( unless the landlord was happy to let that happen).However if she is given a new tenancy she could pass the tenancy on again to someone else that may only have lived there for a year!

Before moving, people should always check properly what they are taking on - for example, any damage that may have been caused by the previous tenant will end up becoming your responsibility. We quite often delay exchange dates so that tenants can put their properties right before they move so that future problems are avoided.

I would just like to comment on the part of your e-mail that referred to altered dates - I have now reviewed our forms and hopefully made the dates section clearer for people in the future! I agree that the way that it was worded was confusing, and an alteration was made at the time as a result of realising the error. I can assure you that the alteration will not affect your legal status, and you became our tenant on 9th June 2008 - which is the date of the Deed of Assignment.

I hope that this has clarified things for you, and I hope that all goes well with your planned exchange.

hi viv yes it has explained it alot better and hopefully people can get exchanges without too much stress now our last exchange council ended our tenancy and started a new one for the people moving in so i imagine that so long as a landlord agrees to let you take on the other tenancy there should be no problems at all and also imagine that they can do this whether or not they usually start a new tenancy they just have to change it really benefiting all concerned
thx again for your response in this matter and lets hope that our exchange can go thru without any problems the sooner the better due to the fact of a better chance of seeing our grandkids and family more and also the possiblity of a better chance of employment thxs .pat

hi put in for exchange over a week ago and was told that both applications had been recieved when i handed mine in at the offices last tuesday but have not heard anything since and was wanting to get an answer as soon as possible with xmas coming ever closer and as other party is desperate to get this area would be looking at moving pretty quick if at all possible and we have to sort out school for daughter and all other stuff like telephone gas electric and bills etc but obviously cannot even think about starting to pack or organise anything till we have an answer first so can anyone tell me what is happening thxs

We have had both application forms, but the other association had not had their forms back by last week. Before we give permission to you to move, we also need some more information from them about their tenant, and we have spoken to them about this. Our Housing Officer will keep you informed.

I know you feel that a week is a long time as you badly want to move, but the law gives us 42 days to refuse or give permission. Most exchanges are carried out a long time before that, and I hope that you get your move quickly.

you can forget it now they were couple of real timewasters pushing us to move and fill forms in etc then now say they arent going thru with it complete idiots and give douglas my apologies for wasting his time tho it was out of our hands just a very annoying and stupid woman