House Swapping Ever Done It For A Holiday? Any Disasters?

[Rhiannon]

We swapped houses through the NCT register last year. The couple used our guest bedroom which hadn't been used very often as my husband uses the room as an office. We'd had a new bathroom put in and the room had been re-done as it used to be a bathroom but unfortunately when the builder had finished his work 6 months previously he didn't check that the soil pipe was clear.

This is when things get a bit revolting, anyway after a couple of days the pipe filled to the top and literally burst back into the bathroom filling the bath and loo with sh*te. A plumber came round and took the cover off the vertical pipe outside and literally got a face full! How embarrassing and we never heard from the couple again, funny that.

Anyway this year we've joined an international agency and made a tentative exchange with a family in California, they have a couple of acres and 6500 square foot of house, can't wait. R.

Rhiannon - house swaps sound like a great idea for cheap holidays but are many foreigners interested in staying in a poky terrace in a grim northern town?

You'd be surprised, Tinker. People don't always want to go to touristy places. Families might want to swap to a 'grim northern town' because they have relatives there, with whom they can't stay, or it mught be acombined business/family trip. I've done the NCT houseswap once (a holiday in the UK for £25.85!). The advantages are that you go somewhere where there are new-to-you toys and books, you don't have to leave your house unoccupied, you can arrange to leave any pets to be taken care of, or your child may get the chance to look after someone else's pet.