When it comes to home exchanges - frequently touted as a cheap alternative to staying in a hotel - you should proceed with great caution. The web is riddled with dubious agencies, some of them offering just a handful of properties. Sites that don't charge for a listing are usually trying to build up a client list before starting to charge. Generally, the bigger the agency, the better your chance of finding a suitable swap. Don't confine yourself to UK-based agencies unless you want to stay in Britain, and be as flexible as possible. Specialist sites are springing up everywhere: you can now set up swaps with another retiree, a student, a gay couple, a single person, teachers or academics.
Lastly, remember that a Birmingham semi is also a comfortable three-bedded family home, close to a major airport, and within a short drive of Shakespeare's Stratford and the beautiful landscape of mid-Wales. And remember that everyone else will be exaggerating, too.
Fee £95
The grandmother of all home exchangers, HomeLink was established in 1953 - the company, of course, not the website - and makes an excellent introduction to the whole business because you can browse all its thousands of listings online. English speaking countries are well represented, but HomeLink will translate your entry into a number of European languages, too.
Free (but £25 to advertise)
An unsophisticated site with numerous houses in the US, Canada and Australasia.
Fee £21
Small but well organised site with no particular 'green' credentials.
Fee $50 (£32)
For an extra fee, Latitudes will do the matching for you. Perhaps that's why they make the listings so hard to browse.
Fee $65 (£42)
Over-50s only. Thousands of US-based members, which puts Britons looking for US homes at a distinct advantage.
Free
A new company that sets up motor home and yacht berths as well as home swaps.
Free
A Danish-based company for 'small families', singles and single parents.
Free (but donations are encouraged)
Academics only. Requests tend to be quite specific, so exchangers living in big university towns and London are more likely to be successful.
Fee $35 (£23)
Limited listings, but plenty of detail.
Fee $40
One of the bigger gay exchange directories. See also Stay4Free.com.
Fee $49.95
Vast international site that recently merged with HolidayExchange.com.
Free
Itinerant students offer to swap their cramped accommodation. Let's hope their housemates have been warned.
