1. Home
  2. Housing
  3. Council tenants
  4. If you want to move

Move to a smaller home (under-occupation scheme)

If your council or housing association home has empty bedrooms, it is being under-occupied. 

The Under Occupation Scheme enables qualifying tenants to downsize to a smaller property.

Assisting under occupiers to move helps tenants to:

  • continue to live independently in a more manageable sized home
  • avoid the ‘bedroom tax’
  • frees up family-sized accommodation for larger families on the waiting list

Our Under Occupation Officer will guide you through the process from start to finish. They will visit you at home to explain the process, make your application, discuss your requirements and your preferred property type. They will also advise you if the type of property you are hoping for is not likely to become available.

Depending on funds available at the time, we may offer you a cash incentive to downsize and in some cases, we will support you with the removal costs.

Contact us to make an enquiry about under-occupation

Eligibility

To be eligible for the scheme you need to:

  • be on the housing register (you will be given extra priority for downsizing)
  • be a tenant of Sutton Housing Partnership or one of our partner housing associations (your Landlord can provide this information)
  • be the main named tenancy holder
  • have a clear rent account before moving; any cash incentive can be used towards outstanding arrears. If you have rent arrears but would like to apply please contact us to discuss your situation
  • nave no current or past anti-social behaviour orders

Where you can move to

All properties will be within the London Borough of Sutton. Occasionally we may have a property in another local borough such as Croydon, Kingston, Merton or Reigate and Banstead. If you would like to move to another London borough, please register with Housing Moves. Tenants aged 60 and over who would like to move to rural or coastal locations can be considered for the Seaside and Country Homes scheme. If you are interested in this scheme please let the Under Occupation Officer know.