AN estate agent has launched a “house swap” scheme in a bid to get the stagnant market moving.

People who are looking to move to a bigger home or to downsize are paired with each other in a new part exchange scheme.

Jonathan Swinn, boss of Buy The House, said that there were “opportunities for everyone” to find a house swap.

He said: “As banks are tightening up their lending policies and asking for larger deposits from first-time buyers, there are fewer people entering the market place at the bottom to create upward movement.

“Clearly there are plenty of people who do want to move house judging from the number of properties listed on all the web portals.”

Mr Swinn is hosting a part exchange evening at the firm’s branch in Blackburn Road, Accrington, tonight.

He already has more than 50 people listed as interested in house swapping. He said: “The advantage of doing this is you don't have to wait for a first-time buyer or investor to kick-start the first house in a chain. The idea is to get vendors talking to each other to see if there is the opportunity for a swap.

“There will also be mort-gage advisors, sales staff and a conveyancer available to chat to.”

He said drops in house prices could be mitigated by a house swap where buyers and sellers just looked at the difference in price between properties.

Mr Swinn added: “People will consider anything that allows them to move.

“Putting people together like this gets people thinking of the possibilities and can create much more interest.

“Many people are looking to move within a two or three mile radius so this helps bring people together.”

Eric Tweed, 57, has been trying to sell his four-bedroom detached house in Three Brookes Way, Oswaldtwistle, for the past year.

He said: “It’s a fantastic idea. We want to move to a smaller place and the scheme will help us do that.”

For more details about the scheme, contact Buy The House on 01254 872020.