Sorry, have been away sunning myself only just seen your message.
No criteria for the scheme, people need to decide for themselves what home they think is suitable to stay in.
I would say what is more important is that your home is clean rather than well decorated. Although if you have any area that may be unsafe for young children these should be addressed -like unfenced garden going on to road or stairs with no bannister, that sort of thing.
Deadline for next issue is next Tuesday so you need to get your application form in before then. Go to www.nct.org.uk/fundraising and click on Houseswap and you can print off an application form.
The cost is £29.99 for the year, you don't have to be an NCT member to join and there is no longer an age limit of 13 for children.
When looking for a swap you need to be pro-active and contact several people. Obviously the houses in typical holiday areas are the most popular so try to have plenty of choices of places you want to visit.
You'll need to get a visitor's pack made up for your home, this will take a little while but will only need doing once. You can get plenty of details and leaflets from your local tourist information (they will post to you). Put in details of rubbish collection, how appliances work that sort of thing.
Hope this helps and hope you'll join us.