Case study: The Czapnick family
In October 2004, Ria and her partner Sieb spent four days in the UK in an exchange with Sharon Czapnick. They swapped their 5th floor two-bedroom apartment in Amsterdam for a two-bedroom flat in Finchley, using an agency called Home Base Holidays.
Sharon got in touch with Ria about swapping their apartment with her London flat and they spent time exchanging information and getting to know each other before the holiday.
"As Sharon had never exchanged before she was understandably a bit nervous about how to prepare," Ria says.
Ria and Sieb have been swapping for several years and have a standard set of instructions which they update when arranging a new holiday.
"We leave the key with our neighbour plus a full description of the apartment and how everything works. We leave maps, timetables of public transport, as well as a welcome drink.
"We were met at Sharon's home by her mother, a really nice lady who showed us around and explained things. We also met Lucky the cat - very sweet."
Often with house swaps, there's a difference in the size of accommodation exchanged, however people are generally understanding and happy as long as the home is accurately described, clean and comfortable.
"Sharon's apartment was small, certainly compared to ours, but comfy and cosy," says Ria. "We enjoyed it enormously.
"We left the flat as we found it and returned to find our apartment in good order and Beer the cat still on speaking terms with us." The Haagsmas don't appear to have trouble finding people to exchange with. "We never approach others, but receive about two or three offers a week.
"We will certainly continue swapping. Of course the financial aspect is good, but the main reason is that it is so much more pleasant to spent your mornings and evenings in a home.
"You can put your feet up and read a book, and you are not obliged to go out. It is much more relaxing."
· A double room in a two star hotel on the outskirts of London would cost Ria and Sieb around £47.50 a night, a room in central London would cost from around £60 a night, while a self catering apartment would cost from around £550 a week.
