Is there such a thing as a holiday house swap?

[snickersandmars]

I was just wondering if there is such a site to swap homes for a few days in the UK? I am looking to visit somewhere new in August and live in a desirable part of the UK but fancy a few days somewhere else. If anyone knows anything please let me know :-)

or if any mumsnetters are up for it!

Where do you live? I'm not sure someone in cornwall by the sea would want to do a swap with someone in Blackpool.

There used to be Guardian house swap and The National Childbirth Trust.

It's a great idea, although a lot of work to get your house properly clean in advance. As in every cupboard scrubbed out.

I use https://www.homeexchange.com/. There is an annual fee, and people generally don’t expect every cupboard to have been scrubbed out!

Another option would be house or pet-sitting, which wouldn’t involve anyone staying in your house. Try https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/accounts/profile/login/. Again, an annual fee but cheaper than accommodation would cost.

I've often thought about this but it seems like a lot of effort would be needed to depersonalise my home. It is clean and tidy but there are personal bits and pieces everywhere. Paperwork, photo albums, clothes, toiletries, food, drawers of knick knacks etc. My teen dds room is full (literally!) of her personal stuff. Then there are the cupboards of cleaning stuff, medicines, sharp knives etc that I don't have to be careful with anymore as dc are older. Would I have to clear out the fridge freezer? Write out instructions for everything and leave numbers for the plumber etc and days the bins get collected? It just seems like it would be a huge chore!

The people you would be swapping with will also have the same or similar stuff. Some people do use it as motivation for a bit of a declutter or rationalisation, but essentially you know it’s someone’s home you’re going to, and vice versa, so no one’s expecting perfection or depersonalisation.

Precious things and personal paperwork etc would usually be put away somewhere reasonably Recife, but people who exchange homes tend not to be the kind of people who go nosying through drawers anyway. It’s a reciprocal arrangement.

If your home wouldn’t be suitable for a family with young children, then you don’t need to swap with that age-group - they’ll likely be looking to swap with similar anyway so get use of garden toys, high chairs etc.

We did a house swap with a family in San Francisco. It was arranged because we are in Yorkshire and the Americans had family here. It was great

Guardian home exchange once and worked really well.