VISITING

They are all part of a home exchange network – a concept that was brought to the big screen in the 2006 film The Holiday where an English journalist, played by Kate Winslet, exchanges her pretty Surrey cottage for a Bel Air mansion owned by Cameron Diaz’s character – a successful movie trailer producer.

A home exchange is an arrangement between two parties to swap their main or holiday home for an agreed period of time, allowing them both to enjoy rent-free holiday accommodation.

Lois Sealey, who runs the home exchange agency Home Base Holidays, said this type of holiday has many advantages. These include having the space and convenience of a home where you can cook your own meals and have access to books, toys and other equipment left by the owners, as well as enjoying the experience of staying in a real neighbourhood rather than a touristy area. "You also have the security of knowing that your own house is occupied," she said. "And – if agreed with your exchange partner in advance – that your pets and plants are being cared for."

Ans Lammers, owner of the home exchange website www.HomeForExchange.com, added: "You can save roughly about 50 percent of your holiday budget as the costs for accommodation are reduced to zero. Especially in these days of recession and financial crisis, more and more people are looking for ways to afford a holiday in the country they would like to go to."

For a small annual fee—usually around €35—people can list their property with a home exchange agency and access the details of other members. Home exchanges are considered to be a private agreement between friends and in general there is no obligation to inform your mortgage or insurance company.

However, some home exchange companies offer the option of a contract and accommodation insurance to cover a possible cancellation by your exchange partner.

Despite this, home exchange is not something that suits everyone, being a system that relies entirely on trust. American chiropractor Tobias Goncharoff, who has done several exchanges from his home in Barcelona, said: "The level of trust is very high because you’re sharing each other’s spaces. You are in their home and they are in your home."