Has anybody ever tried a house swap?

[MagicNappySack]

Have you/has anybody you know ever taken part in a house swap?

Is there an organisation you can arrange such a holiday through that will vouch for the trustworthiness of your swapee?

DH, DD and I would like to go on more UK holidays and short breaks - but self catering in the UK is just too expensive. As we live in central London, can we swap our flat for accomodation elsewhere?

My friend has done international house swap, there is an online company that does that...perhaps they do Uk ones too. havent got the name tho!

We've done a few UK houseswaps and have found them a great way of having affordable family breaks. We're hooked now. We're doing one this summer and hopefully next week. We use the NCT houseswap site and also have a listing on the UK holiday swapshop. We went to France last Easter through switchome.org
Neither of the sites can vouch for the other swappers but you can request references before arranging a swap.
So far we've just emailed and spoken to families first and had good, gut feelings. Also the swap is mutual and people have always left our home clean and in good order. You can agree in advance what to use in each other's homes etc.
You can browse families all over the UK and request swaps from anyone.
Good luck