Local families are swapping their council homes to combat the government’s under occupation rule, with one family negotiating a seven-way swap before Christmas taking them from a 4-bed house in rural West Sussex to a 3-bed flat in central Brighton. More than 100 families have swapped their council homes this year freeing up their much-needed homes. The word is spreading with a number of council lead community ‘swap shops’ planned throughout the city after the success of the first event in 2013.