If you feel defeated in your search for affordable holidays by the high cost of hotel rooms or self-catering accommodation, why not cut costs by swapping homes with other home-owning travellers.
It's hard to see any downside to home exchange holidays. There's the obvious attraction of living rent-free in the comfort of a real home and the potential to save on car hire costs too by exchanging cars. For families with young children, there's the added bonus of having access to equipment and toys they would otherwise have to hire or take with them on holiday.
Home exchange also gives you the chance visit more unusual places away from the tourists and immerse yourself in another family's local culture and lifestyle if you wish. Home swappers often get to know their counterpart's friends, neighbours and even babysitters.
Back home, your property is occupied and cared for by people who are trusting you to do the same for them. Most home insurers see this as a benefit and will cover your home at no extra cost while non-renting exchangers are in residence, but check this with your insurer first. Also check with your motor insurer before agreeing to exchange cars. Some may charge an extra premium to provide cover for exchange drivers.
If there is a downside, it's the time and effort it can take to set up an exchange, though the advent of email, used by the vast majority of exchangers, has made things easier.
You'll need to register with one or more home exchange agencies, supplying them with a written directory entry, contact potential exchange partners until you find the right match, draw up an agreement with them and prepare your home for occu pation by visitors. The latter means leaving your home clean and tidy, locking away any private possessions and making space in wardrobes and cupboards for exchangers to use.
You will also need to prepare a dossier containing instructions on how all your appliances work, information on local transport, shops, restaurants, places to visit and a list of useful and emergency phone numbers.
Finding an exchange partner is best done through paying to become a member of a home exchange agency which will list your home and exchange requirements in printed directories and, increasingly, online and release your contact details only to other members.
The membership fees that agencies charge tend to reflect the size and geographical spread of their exchange listings database. So to get the widest possible choice, you are best off paying the top rates charged by one of the two biggest, international players in the field - HomeLink and Intervac which both boast some 12,500 listings spanning more than 50 countries. Before registering, visitors can look on the web at the range of homes on offer.
They say any home is in the running, though proximity to a toursit attraction helps.
HomeLink publishes three directories per year and charges £95 for a year's full season's, international membership. This gives you a website listing until October 2002, a listing in the next printed directory, plus copies of all three of its directories.
Full season membership at Intervac costs £99, including a web listing, one directory entry and a copy of the directory. Other options are available such as the web-only late season membership at £60 for applications received between April 13 and August 1.
Cheaper membership options are available from smaller, established agencies like Home Base Holidays (HBH) which has around 1,500 listings and charges from £38 for a full year's online listing. HBH is currently offering a 25% discount on this fee to people joining before February 21.
Smaller, more specialised agencies exist for particular groups. The National Childbirth Trust's (NCT) house swap register, for example, is a charity-based listing for families with at least one child under 12 (they don't have to be NCT members). For an annual membership fee of £25.85, your home and details are published in three issues of the register containing over 250 homes mainly in the UK. You also get an update from the register's co-ordinator Denise Tupman.
US-based, online directory Mi Casa Su Casa is a gay and lesbian home exchange service with members in over 15 countries which you can join and pay for online by credit card. Membership, giving you a website listing, costs $80 for the first year plus $50 for 2003 renewals.
The most successful exchangers tend to be those who send out a lot of invitations to prospective exchange partners and who are not too fussy about the location they want. Ms Tupman says: "The more flexible you can be about dates and venue, the more likely the swap."
Florida trip saved £1,000
A house swap in the US followed by a fortnight's house-sitting for friends in Canada, arranged for them by in-laws, gave Gavin and Suzanna Bellamy, teachers from Uckfield, Sussex, the taste for home exchange.
Looking to repeat the experience with their two children Luke and Lucy, the Bellamys joined a large international exchange agency, but had no success finding the right swap. So Mr Bellamy set up a web-based club - www.ihxc.com - for like-minded, exchange enthusiasts.
Having built up over 300 club listings, mainly from teachers in the US, Canada and UK, the Bellamys found the perfect swap last summer with a Florida-based family.
"I reckon we saved at least £1,000 on accommodation and car hire costs which meant we could afford to visit the expensive attractions in Orlando," says Mr Bellamy. "And we had a fantastic fortnight in our own base with our own pool and use of a car. The neighbours were very friendly."
The way to ensure a successful home exchange, he feels, is to be flexible and agree all details in advance with your swap partner.
Who to call
HBH: www.homebase-hols.com, tel 020 8886 8752
HomeLink: www.homelink.org.uk , tel 01344 842642
Intervac: www.intervac.com, tel 01225-892011
Mi Casa Su Casa: www.gayhometrade.com
NCT house swap register: tel 01626 360689 or email thetupmans@yahoo.co.uk
