Am I allowed to go to a smaller house?

[violetthunder]

Hey, I wondered if any of you knew..
I currently live in a 3 bed, which i’m entitled to (me, son who is 13, daughter who is 3) however, the house isn’t really great for us. The front of the house is directly on a car park and has frequent traffic out the front so i’m permanently worried about the kids. The back “garden” is a tiny courtyard that the kids can’t play in. I know i’m sounding ungrateful, i’m definitely not but I want my children to be safe going outside the house and having somewhere fun and safe to play in the back garden. (Also side note, when I accepted the house I was in an overcrowded not great situation, so I would have accepted anything)

ANYWAY, sorry for waffling, i’m on the house swapper website and I’ve seen such a lovely home that has a big garden, front garden that faces a green, it’s close to both my childrens school so it’s perfect, however it’s a 2 bed. It doesn’t bother me, I can give my children the bedrooms and I’ll buy a sofa bed… but am I allowed to go into a 2 bed if i’m entitled to a 3? Wow that was alot. Thanks haha :)

You would need to discuss with your housing officer. assuming the house swap is with the same housing association.

it’s possible they may agree with some sort of waiver - that you’ve agreed to a smaller property despite your needs being for a 3 bed.

it’s likely they will refuse.

only way to find out is to request to talk to your housing officer and take it from there.

Yeah I have a feeling they’ll probably refuse too, but I will speak to them and see what they say, thanks