If you're looking for cheap holiday accommodation, home swapping could be right up your street (but there's no sign of Noel Edmonds)..
If you've ever watched the movie The Holiday, you might be familiar with the term 'home swapping'. You know, it's the film where Cameron Diaz swaps her Los Angeles mansion for Kate Winslet's Surrey cottage, their holidays begin, romance blossoms -- you get the gist.
But as funny as the film might be, home swapping is a serious business and it is really starting to take off. In fact, according to Lloyds TSB Insurance, 1.6 million holidaymakers have arranged a house swap in 2011, twice the number that did so last year.
So where exactly do holidaymakers like to go for their house swapping adventures?
Top ten hotspots
The list below reveals the top ten UK house swap hotspots according to Lloyds TSB Insurance:
1. Cornwall
2. Lake District
3. Devon
4. Scotland
5. Ireland
6. Cotswolds
7. London
8. Dorset
9. New Forest
10. South Wales
But it's not just the UK where home swapping takes place. Some of us have travelled further afield, with 15% travelling to Spain, 15% to Italy and 12% of us to France to trade homes.
Cheap holidays
For many of us, money is a little tight right now. So when it comes to planning a holiday, chances are you will be considering a cheap option. That means the idea of getting accommodation for free via home swapping might sound rather tempting. And fortunately, getting started is pretty easy.
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See the guideAll you need to do to begin your adventure is sign up to a home swapping website. Some websites focus solely on the UK, such as UKHolidaySwapShop, while others, such as Intervac, allow you to swap homes with those abroad. There's also Homelink, which claims to be the biggest home-exchange site in the world, and Homebase Holidays. Geenee is another great option - particularly as it's free to join.
Once you've signed up you can advertise your own home and state your holiday preferences (both the country and when you want to travel). You can then browse the site to see whether any of the homes on offer take your fancy. If you spot a suitable property, just contact the other member and start arranging the swap! It's that simple!
The only slight drawback is that you'll need to pay a membership fee to use these websites. This can cost anything between £20 and £115 a year (apart from Geenee which, as I said, is free). Either way, you'll still be saving money in the long run -- after all, if you weren't home swapping you'd be paying at least £40 a night to stay in a hotel or B&B. Plus, you can carry out as many swaps as you like during that year's membership.
Happy swapping
If you're thinking of arranging a home swap, you might be feeling a tad nervous about how it all works. So here are a few helpful tips:
- Be completely honest about the house you're advertising -- this includes mentioning if there are any drawbacks to the home or neighbourhood.
- Communicate fully with your swap partner -- find out whether it's ok for you to bring children or pets with you, or whether you can smoke in their home.
- Ensure your home is stocked up on basics such as toiletries and kitchen staples, and clear out some space for their belongings.
- Provide information about local facilities such as shops, restaurants and transport facilities, as well as a list of emergency telephone numbers such as doctors. Also leave your own contact number.
- Ensure your home is tidy before your swap partner arrives, and leave the home you've visited in a similar manner -- treat your holiday home in the same way you'd like yours treated.
- Make solid arrangements about for the collection and handing back of keys -- perhaps a neighbour or friend could help. It's worth letting a neighbour know about the home swap anyway.
- Lock away any valuable items you're worried about.
- Give your home insurance company a ring, or check your policy terms and conditions carefully to ensure your home will be fully covered while it's occupied by other people. And take out any extra cover if you need to. This is really important - according to the research by Lloyds TSB Insurance, two-thirds of house-swappers fail to tell their home insurer they will be taking part in a home-swap.
So next time you're planning a holiday, why not consider the possibility of a house swap?
This is a classic article that has been updated for 2011.
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