Over the past six months we’ve been speaking a lot about The Resident Voice Index™ project, which launched this year to gather insights into those living in social housing in the UK. Now we are finally able to share what the almost 4,000 social housing residents who joined in feel about where they live! The first survey topics explored by the Resident Voice Index™ project included: What facilities [...]
Your hours of searching and chatting to other swappers have paid off - congratulations, you might have found the perfect home! To make sure, you’ll need to have a good look around to get to know the place and the neighbourhood and make sure it’s the right move for you. However, with the UK opening up again and lockdowns easing, we know many people are still concerned about the risk [...]
Our Resident Ambassador Jackie had some good ideas of what social housing in the 21st century may look like.
This week we meet our third Resident Ambassador for the Resident Voice Index™ project, Jim. Living in the North East of England, he’s a no-nonsense stalwart of local activism and contribution. From being on tenant advisory panels, becoming a town councillor, contributing to national think tanks on social housing, to helping us with the Resident Voice Index™ project, he’s passionate about improving his local community and the interests of social [...]
Our second Resident Ambassador, Val lives in the North East of England and has been working alongside her housing association and for national resident boards for years. She came forward as a Resident Ambassador for the Resident Voice Index™ project and describes how resident engagement takes dedication and partnership working. The relationship that Val has with her housing provider is a strong one. “We don’t feel it’s us and the [...]
A new TV series on home swapping is soon to be made, showing the positive stories in social housing. Would you like to be in it?
Community projects such as changing a public space or building new developments should involve those who actually live in a community.
The Neighbourhoods & Communities survey is the first of a project which aims to get to know what social housing residents in the UK think
Understanding an area better means finding out about the people living there and how they feel. Our Resident Voice Index™ aims to do that.
Your voice matters and giving a few minutes to share your opinion can give the people planning improvements to services a real insight into where their efforts can be best placed.
We spoke to residents and separately, to housing providers to find out what communication between them was like at the moment and ways in which they wanted to see engagement improved. Now we're launching The Resident Voice campaign.
In times like these, it may be hard to find the incentive to start saving. But there are schemes available that can turn this around!
The Regulator works with government, Housing Ombudsman and housing providers to make sure that social homes are safe, decent and sustainable.
We asked you, of course! And you gave us some great suggestions for changes that could be made to the site.
A large-scale data collection exercise, the cencus influences how public services like GPs and green spaces are planned and funded.
In our last blog post, we spoke about what an ombudsman is and how they can work with you to sort out issues with complaints across most areas of your life. This week we are talking specifically about the Housing Ombudsman, who is the last port of call for when communication breaks down following a complaints procedure. The Housing Ombudsman service is responsible for working out if a [...]
Sometimes organisations don’t behave as they should. In the worst cases, there are impartial bodies that can help deal with this.
Some housing providers in the UK want to help you protect your family and community and are offering first aid training for free.
At HomeSwapper, we take a look at one scheme called the Good Work Standard in more detail. Read all about it here.
Here we’re giving you a breakdown of the different types of Community Led Housing schemes and how you can get involved within your own community.
The idea of a job for life and a pension to come along after is a thing of the past. Read our blog post about consolidating all your pensions.
The colder months are drawing in, the days are getting shorter and most of us are spending more time at home than we bargained for. Making sure that your home is ready for this cold spell can help you stay warm and healthy as well as save a little on those winter bills! There’s lots to look forward to in the winter; from those cosy nights, to catching up with [...]
We were lucky enough to talk again to Sarah Jayne about how she makes a swap on HomeSwapper smooth sailing.
HomeSwapper user, Sarah-Jayne spoke to us about how she keeps on top of all the HomeSwapper ads she’s actively engaging with.
Getting older often means accepting more support than we needed before. Retirement has an effect on the spare money we have to spend on the more exciting things in life. For those nearing that time we’ve put together a list of the help that’s out there to support us:
NHS Healthy Towns proposes that homebuilding and town planners think of health, economic growth, infrastructure, housing and environment as factors that are interconnected.
It’s very rare that the majority of people living across the world have the same experience as one another. Here at HomeSwapper we have been noticing some changes in the reasons you want to move…
Congratulations! You’ve found a swap, your application has been approved and now all that’s left to think about is the move itself. Moving home is a chance to shed some of the possessions that over time, have turned into clutter. Instead of sending them to landfill there are places you can put them so others can find your unwanted goods. When preparing for a big move, items hidden [...]
With all the current goings on, the news has been filled with our Members of Parliament (or MPs). Especially at this time, it can feel as though a lot of decisions about our day-to-day lives are being made for us. But who are the people that are making them and how can you have your voice heard? This week we’re giving you the lowdown on what an MP is and [...]
Over the last 5 months you may have noticed new pop-up barriers for wider pavements and cycle lanes that have been put in place to take the strain off public transport and help people safely social distance while getting around. According to Cycling UK, 11,000 people have reached out to councils across England to support these temporary barriers, paving the way for these to become a more permanent change. Those [...]
Have you ever looked on HomeSwapper and seen a property that’s labelled ‘No swap needed’? This is what’s called a ‘void property’, which means that it is immediately available to be moved into! On HomeSwapper, landlords are able to upload any properties that they have that might be sitting empty and need a tenant. Why are there void properties? As of 2019, there are an estimated 216,000 empty [...]
During your time using HomeSwapper, you’re almost certain to chat to our fantastic Customer Support Team. It may be that you’ve got a question about how certain functions work or perhaps you’d simply like to know how you can get the best out of the system. If you can’t find the answer to your query on our Help Centre, our Customer Support Team are here to help. While the [...]
Across the UK, the outpouring of those protecting and nurturing their communities has been overwhelming. It may sometimes seem that the problems facing us all are too big to address - but that’s why small actions to impact your immediate environment can be the best way to start. Over the past few months, we’ve been writing our series on ‘What local councils are responsible for’ and it got us thinking… [...]
This week we’re revisiting our Meet the Team series, where we introduce you to the members of our Customer Support Team that many of you will have spoken to during your time on HomeSwapper. We’re chatting to Head of Customer support , Lynn Darling about customer focus and the ways in which she works every day to ensure the best experience for all. First of all, tell us [...]
We’ve all been spending more time at home than we usually would and that may mean that use of electricity and gas in households will likely have risen. It’s estimated that by switching energy providers, a single household could save up to £350 per year! Read on for our tips on finding the cheapest option and how to go about switching. Switching energy supplier may seem like a [...]
We can’t control the behaviour of others and on HomeSwapper we want to protect our users from negative contact as much as we can. Using the report button means we can take action for you and make sure that your time on HomeSwapper is enjoyable and safe. Blocking another user If another swapper is harassing you or being rude, it is possible to block them from sending you [...]