Housing (Scotland) Act 2001

33Exchange of house

(1)It is a term of every Scottish secure tenancy that the tenant may exchange the house which is the subject of the tenancy for another house which is the subject of a Scottish secure tenancy (whether or not of the same landlord) but only with the consent in writing of the landlord and (if different) the landlord of the other house.

(2)A landlord whose consent is requested under subsection (1) may refuse such consent only if it has reasonable grounds for doing so.

(3)There are, in particular, reasonable grounds for refusing such consent if—

(a)a notice under section 14(2) has been served on the tenant specifying a ground set out in any of paragraphs 1 to 7 of schedule 2,

(b)an order for recovery of possession of the house which is the subject of the current tenancy has been made against the tenant under section 16(2),

(c)that house was provided by the landlord in connection with the tenant’s employment with it,

(d)that house has been designed or adapted for occupation by a person whose special needs require accommodation of the kind provided by the house and, if the exchange took place, there would no longer be a person with such special needs occupying the house,

(e)the accommodation in the other house—

(i)is substantially larger than that required by the tenant and the tenant’s family, or

(ii)is not suitable to the needs of the tenant and the tenant’s family, or

(f)the exchange would lead to overcrowding of the house in such circumstances as to render the occupier guilty of an offence under section 139 of the 1987 Act.

(4)Where the landlord is a registered social landlord which is a co-operative housing association, any consent under subsection (1) is subject to the condition that the tenant of the other house is a member of the association when the exchange takes effect.

(5)The Scottish Ministers may by order modify subsection (3).

(6)On an exchange in accordance with this section, the existing tenancy is terminated and the tenant is taken to have been granted a Scottish secure tenancy of the other house by the landlord of that house; and this Part applies to that tenancy accordingly.

(7)The provisions of Part 2 of schedule 5, so far as relating to this section, have effect as terms of every Scottish secure tenancy.