Can you exchange your social housing (HLM) between tenants?

Verified 27 August 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

The exchange is authorized (without having to provide justification to the landlord) if the tenants of the 2 dwellings comply with the following 5 conditions:

  • They live in an empty rented unit
  • They ask the landlord
  • The 2 dwellings belong to the same landlord and are rented in the same real estate complex (same group of buildings)
  • One of the 2 families has at least 3 children
  • The exchange allows the larger family to occupy a larger dwelling

If these 5 conditions are not met, any request for housing exchange requires the prior written agreement of the lessor. Tenants who would exchange their homes without the landlord's consent can have their lease terminated.

After the exchange, the lease of each dwelling continues under the same conditions and clauses. No tenant can be considered a new entrant.

FYI  

To facilitate housing exchanges, some social landlords have made available an exchange on the Internet (in particular by Île-de-France, in New Aquitaine, and in the departments of Haute-Savoie and the Rhône).

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  • Administrative information by phone - Allô Service Public

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