Council house swap database to be launched

The government is launching a national database that will let people from different parts of the country swap homes.

Any of the eight million council tenants in England can join and they will be able to see who else in the country wants to move.

Once a match is made a swap can be arranged.

Charlene Gall, 16, has just moved to Colchester, Essex with her family after using an existing swap scheme.

She had been living in Cornwall with her mum and younger brothers and sisters but the family wanted to be nearer Charlene's older sister in Essex.

They also found it hard to move around Cornwall without public transport and wanted to be somewhere with a more bustling town life.

They signed up to a website - homeswapper.co.uk - and created an advert for their house.

The family contacted lots of people living in north Essex who wanted to swap homes and eventually got a call from a couple wanting to settle down in Cornwall.

Charlene says the swap has been great: "I love it here. Yesterday I went up to the town and did lots of shopping. It is really good here and it's near my sister."

'New houses needed'

However the government thinks the current house swapping schemes, like the one Charlene used, are patchy and complicated.

The housing minister, Grant Shapps, says: "(Under the current system) many tenants are left trapped in their own homes while councils turn their attention to record waiting lists."

Charlene's family used an existing scheme to move closer to her sister

He hopes a national database will make it easier for people to move to get work or be nearer their families.

Charlene tells us: "I think this is a really good idea because on the website it can take longer and if it becomes bigger and more people are on it it will become quicker to find houses."

The government also hopes this will encourage people to move out of large family houses if they no longer need them.

There are currently 250,000 overcrowded council houses in England.

However, the Labour Party says this scheme is no substitute to building new houses.

Shadow housing minister John Healey claims: "These measures could be taken as a green light by some to pressure people out of their homes."

The PM, David Cameron, has also announced plans to introduce fixed-term tenancies instead of giving out council houses for life.