Home-swap holidays: 'Living in someone else’s house is quite a different experience'

As travel restrictions slowly ease, home swaps have seen an almost 300% increase in popularity. Amanda Cassidy speaks to those who explore, or plan to explore, the world through the power of sharing.

Would you swap homes with someone? It's something more people have been signing up for since the pandemic started

Pre-Covid, Eleanor, Sam and their two young children regularly swapped their house on the outskirts of Dublin for a chalet in the French Alps. In their case, cars, pets and even gym membership were factored into the swap. But this year, with the pandemic scuppering such carefree holidays, the couple decided to do something a little bit more adventurous.

“A family approached us and asked if we’d be interested in exchanging homes for eight months,” Eleanor, who works in events, explains. “If we hadn’t been home staring at the four walls for months on end, we probably never would have considered it.” Now the family has arranged schooling and remote working in South West France, while the French couple will live in their house for the duration of the swap.

“She’s offered me her skis and the children are swapping bikes. It also suits us both to swap back for a few weeks at Christmas. We see it as a brilliant opportunity for the children to learn French and for us, as a family, to have a unique experience. I mean….why not?” It’s that seize-the-day attitude that has seen a rise in those seeking new and fulfilling adventures, especially when it comes to travel. In short, people are sick of their own homes, and often, hotel stays are out of reach financially.

Célia Pronto is the managing director of Love Home Swap, a home exchange website with over 18,000 homes in more than 100 countries. She says they’ve seen a significant rise in new members signing up for the service.

We’ve seen marked changes to the countries and destinations people are home swapping to and from, but our renewal rates (for members whose subscription fees were due for renewal), have remained incredibly resilient throughout Covid.

"There’s been a steady increase in the number of new members joining us, particularly in countries where restrictions are lifting. Last year, following the initial outbreak, we saw a 282% increase in those taking up a free trial with us in May following a cautious April in lockdown, with this number increasing further by 73% in June.” Home swapping offers authentic, original and unique holiday accommodation for travel-lovers looking for something a little different to the usual hotel holiday or staycation. It’s also not just homes that are swapped, it’s frequently a bit of a life swap too.

Veronica Mannion runs a working sheep farm in the coastal town of Louisburgh, Co Mayo with her biochemist husband, Richard, their two teenagers, and border collies, Rocco and Toby. Apart from breeding Mayo Mountain Blackface ewes for more than 30 years, the family also has a holiday-home business called Devlin House ( https://devlinfarmlife.com) Before lockdown, Veronica organised an informal home swap in America through a friend of a friend.

Veronica Mannion organised an informal home swap in America through a friend of a friend before lockdown.

“We knew her, but not that well. Her house was beside the train station in Boston where we have family. Living in someone else’s house is quite a different experience,” admits Veronica. 

“She had everything you could think of in her house which she’d divided into different parts – and it saved us a great deal of money. We took the boat to Cape Cod and went all the way up the coast. It was a lovely house but antique-style. At the end of the day, you are living with someone else’s taste. This lady also offered the car, but I wasn’t comfortable with that. It gave us the chance to do and see more than we would have done had we stayed in a hotel. Would I do it again? Definitely.” 

So how does it work?

For subscription services (many usually offer a free 14-day trial) you can list your home by providing a short description and a few photos of your property. Next, you use the search filters on the website ( lovehomeswap.com) to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Once you’ve found some options, send a message to the owner of the home to request a swap. Lastly, if they’re agreeable, confirm the details of the swap. Many members then have lengthier conversations with their swap partners to share insight into their local area and the nuances of their home.

Most services offer a choice between a classic swap where you can directly swap houses with someone else, either at the same time or on different dates — which is entirely free.

Alternatively, you can opt for a points swap, allowing you to travel without having to match your plans with another member.

Members earn ‘points’ (which is like virtual currency) for hosting, which you can then spend on another home, when and wherever you like — you simply pay a small service fee based on the length of the trip.

An added benefit is that you also don’t have to own your own home in order to avail of the services. If you are renting, once your landlord is on board and all insurance considerations are fulfilled, home-swapping can commence. You may want to run this one past your housemates too!

Sam and Eleanor met their swap family on a home-exchange website, but ended up hammering out the conditions of their unusually long stay themselves.

“We’ve agreed a one-month trigger clause in case it is a complete disaster,” laughs Eleanor, crossing her fingers in the air. “It’s only really there for peace of mind because we both have elderly parents to consider too.

To be honest, half of those we tell think we are completely mad. The other half think it is the best idea they’ve heard. We’ll have to wait and see how it pans out, but so far we’re really excited.”