How to exchange your Chiswick home for a holiday
Nov 23, 2022
In 2006, Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet swapped homes in romcom The Holiday and took house swapping to a mainstream audience.
House swapping, where you exchange homes for a holiday, is a fast-growing trend. UK-based company Love Home Swap saw an 82% rise in new UK members last year, and similar enthusiasm has been shown on other sites — the number of exchanges finalised on rival Home Exchange, which lists properties across 187 countries, grew by 79% in the same period.
WOULD YOU HAND YOUR HOUSE KEYS TO STRANGERS?
The growing popularity of this trend is the subject of a feature in the latest issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine. For those who baulk at the idea of handing their house keys to strangers, the reassurances are the intense communication between swappers, user reviews and inbuilt expectations.
And anyone with a property can do it; many swappers are retired and flexible time-wise, but it’s also popular with families, couples looking for a different way to travel and digital nomads.
You can home swap anywhere — UK-to-UK swaps have surged post pandemic, and city travel has also made a comeback (the most-searched-for cities currently on Home Exchange are Paris, New York, London, Amsterdam and Barcelona).
Of course, the financial aspect is the big driver for many, and it ticks the sustainability box, as unlike rental properties, which have been accused of weakening the bonds within communities, homes are lived in all year round.
Read the full article to learn the basics including: What does it cost? What can you save? What if something goes wrong? What if you rent?
