The Government's new national 'HomeSwap Direct' scheme will make it easier for tenants living in a council or housing association home to find a new property in another part of the country.

HomeSwap Direct will mean that for the first time there will be a system in place across the whole of the UK, meaning that tenants looking to move, whether for a job, to be near family or to a property better suited to their needs, will be able to see all the available homes across the whole of the UK, not just those on the website subscribed to by their current landlord.

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Some councils such as Kettering already run localised schemes but Homeswap Direct will link them all together across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

One couple that have already benefited from moving home through a homeswap scheme are Terry and Catherine McGrath of Welwyn Hatfield. Their family moved to Lincoln meaning a visit meant a 250 mile round trip, which they did every few weeks. After hearing about Homeswapper they decided to see if they could find a home closer to the family.

Mr McGrath said: "It took us less than three months to find our perfect swap in Lincoln. We could have moved sooner but we wanted to make sure the house was perfect as we knew once we had moved closer to the children we would settle there.

"Our new home is very similar to the bungalow we loved in Welwyn Hatfield but has a very important added benefit; our family are now just around the corner Without HomeSwapper it could have taken years for us to have been moved nearer to our family, it's easy and simple and we'd recommend it to anyone looking to move."

(CD/GK)