Frequently asked questions

Home exchange is a mutual exchange of homes or holiday homes, usually at the same time, for an agreed period. This enables both parties to the exchange to have rent-free accommodation during the exchange. Your exchange partner may live across the country or across the world. Your homes may be similar in size and type or totally different - all that matters is that you are both happy with the exchange arrangements you have agreed in your arrangements before the exchange takes place. You can take an unlimited number of holidays with other home exchanges during your membership.

Each exchange is unique; a relationship of trust should develop as you get to know your exchange partners through e-mail and phone calls.

Anyone with a home can take part. If your home is rented check first for permission from your landlord.

Some of the many benefits of taking part in a home exchange:

• Free accommodation - forget expensive hotels!
• Meet local people, 'live like a native' and experience a different culture first hand
• Enjoy all the space and convenience of staying in a real home the security of having your own home occupied
• If agreed, your plants and pets cared for by your exchange partner
• Toys, books and often babysitters and local playmates for your children
• Save on car rental costs by exchanging cars
• Cut down on expensive restaurant meals

Most members are simply looking for a base for their holiday, large enough to accommodate their family comfortably. It is not necessary to exchange like for like but do be honest in your description of your home and facilities.

Although of course you are at an advantage if you live in a popular area, many members want to avoid tourist areas. Look at your local attractions from a visitor's viewpoint and provide potential exchange partners with lots of information. Give distances to the nearest cities, airports and well-known attractions.

You definitely have a head start! But a quick search through the listings will give you an idea of the many attractive offers available. Even members with attractive offers should take the initiative and contact all others whose listings are of interest. Make an effort to search out possible matches, be as flexible as you can be about destinations and dates - and you should have no problem arranging an exchange.

Check out Organising a home swap for more detailed information.

We're based in London, England and for over 30 years we've been helping people to arrange home exchange vacations.

We also work with The Guardian newspaper to provide their home swap service Guardian Home Exchange and with the Radio Times providing their Radio Times Home Swap service.

As a member you can add your home exchange offer to the site and start contacting other members to arrange your home swaps and enjoy free vacation accommodation worldwide. By choosing to home swap you can cut the cost of going on vacation in half.

We have several membership options including free 2 week trial, a 6 month and 1 year memberships. The best value option is our 1 year membership option at 49. We proud to provide our service at a price that is right for our members.

View the Home Swap Membership Plans

Payments are made on a secure site which uses SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology to encrypt credit and debit card details whilst in transit. When you have been transferred to the secure server to enter payment details the site address will show 'https://' rather than 'http://'. You will see a golden padlock appear at the bottom of the screen when a secure site is entered.

Yes. You may pay by PayPal, cheque or international money order in pounds sterling or give credit or debit card details by phone. You may also pay your subscription fee directly into our bank account.

Contact us for further information on different methods of payment.

No. Your membership fee is the only fee you'll pay for the duration of your membership. As a member you can arrange as many swaps as you (and your exchange partners!) choose at no extra cost.

You can search all active home swap offers on the site by going to the home swap search page. From here you can search home exchange offers by country and region. The total number of listings will vary throughout the year. All offers on the site are up-to-date listings and so are not bulked up with expired offers.

Looking only at the total number of listings is, however, not the best way to determine how likely you are to arrange an exchange. Considering the balance of offers in each country with the numbers of destination requests and how long listings are kept in circulation are both as important as total numbers of listings. Being based in the UK, and with our association with agencies and reps in other countries, Home Base Holidays is fortunate in attracting members both from the UK and from all over the world.

Yes. We only show active members on the site. As soon a listing expires it is automatically hidden on the site. In this way we try to insure that all home swap offers are current and actively seeking a home swap.

All listings display the Expiry Date of their membership so that users of the site can see that they are active, current listings..

Please note: If a property has been listed for several weeks this does not mean that the owners won’t be interested in your exchange offer. Unless a member has indicated ‘Exchange Request Fulfilled’ (such listings include a small suitcase symbol), he/she will still be interested in receiving exchange offers.

An 'open' or 'free' system unfortunately may attract some people who are not well motivated to spend the time and care that's needed to arrange a trouble-free home swap. Home Base Holidays members want to be contacted by others who, by paying a small subscription fee and including their own exchange offers on the site, demonstrate a genuine interest in arranging exchanges. It is also reassuring to be able to view all exchange listings in full on the website before responding to offers. Importantly, for added security, Home Base Holidays do not publish complete address details leaving it up to the exchangers to communicate this with any potential swappers when they feel close to an exchange. Many free-to-list sites publish addresses on the internet for anyone to browse. Home Base Holidays offers a more secure set-up thus greater peace of mind.

The First Home Exchange Alliance (FHEA) is a business organisation founded in 1999 by established independent home exchange agencies that had worked together co-operatively for over 15 years. Home Base Holidays is a founder member of FHEA. Other members include:

- Guardian Home Exchange
- Invented City
- Green Theme International

When logged in click the heart icon next to the listing. You will see the heart icon on both the search results page and the view home page.

Many home exchangers are happy to look after their exchange partners' pets during a home swap. And, when this can be arranged, it's certainly less stressful (and cheaper) to be able to leave much loved pets in their own homes rather than to board them in a kennel.

Members can indicate if they need pet care and/or are willing to look after pets while on a home exchange. It's always a good idea to provide a back-up option so that your exchange guests won't feel tied down if they want a few days travelling away from your home. You can easily find members who have indicated that they would be willing to look after pets by selecting ‘Pet Care Offered’ from the search. Similarly you can search for members that have selected 'Pets Welcome' if you’re looking to take your pet with you on a swap.

Remember though, if you do have pets be sure to clearly indicate this in your listing as, even if they’re not in your home during the swap, your pet’s fur could be a big no no for allergy sufferers.

Yes. It is important to ensure that your insurance policy remains in effect while your guests are living in your home. Make certain your insurance company is aware that your exchange partners are non-paying guests. Most insurance companies now acknowledge that your home is at lower risk from burglary when occupied; however, theft claims may not be met if there is no evidence of forced entry.

Members usually agree to continue to pay their own household bills during the exchange but often arrange to have a separate phone bill for the period of the exchange - each will then be responsible for paying for phone calls made at their exchange home. *Note: many members now agree not to use the household phone but rather use their own mobiles while on exchange. There may be additional bills in one home such as for regular domestic help, a gardener, etc. Members must agree in advance who will be responsible for any extra payment to ensure fairness to both parties.

The first step is to Join Home Base Holidays to add your home swap offer to the site.

Once you've added your home to the site, start looking for home swap offers in the areas you have selected as desired destinations. Or you may see an interesting listing in an area you hadn't considered. Members' preferred destinations and available dates are indicated in the listings to help narrow the possibilities. Don't totally ignore members who haven't listed your area in their destinations - an attractive offer may well persuade them to consider an exchange with you.

Remember to be as proactive as possible and, rather than waiting for people to contact you, start sending messages to a number of members whose home swap offers look of interest. New homes are added to the website every day and so remember to check often to see new and exciting home exchange offer that may suit your needs.

When you receive messages from other members, remember to reply to ALL messages even if just to say that you are not interested in the offer.

You may initially be in contact with a number of members but, as you narrow down your options, don't forget to let anyone else you have been in contact with know if you are unable to pursue an exchange so that they can get on with other exchange plans.

View the "Organising Home Swaps" guidelines.

Please reply to all enquiries, even if it is just a short note of regret that you cannot take up the exchange offer at this time. This is just courteous and allows members to get on with pursuing other exchange possibilities.

A common arrangement is for both parties to arrange for a friend or another family member to meet the exchange family at the airport and drive them to the exchange address. If this is not possible, send each other very clear instructions on public transport. Occasionally members will arrange to collect a car at the airport; if not arranging to meet at the airport, you must arrange to get a message to the exchange party on the exact location of your car in the airport car park.

No. You can arrange more than one exchange if you wish. Some members arrange short breaks close to home as well as longer holidays abroad. You may also change any information you want in your own website listing at any time during your membership period.

In both the brief and full descriptive listings you will see the dates members want to exchange. Unless the member is flexible on dates and has indicated 'open to offers', these dates include both the months and year a member can exchange. Members can update this information whenever needed.

Yes. View the Latest Home Swaps to view all the latest offers added to the site..

Click the Search swaps link from the top menu bar to navigate to the search page where you can browse home exchange offers on the site.

Only countries where there are current listings are shown from the drop down country list (this is automatically updated as members join). Choose any country you are interested in to browse the complete list of current listings.

Join Home Base Holidays by selecting a membership plan and then adding your home and home exchange requirements to the site. Make sure to include as much detail as you can giving an appealing (but honest) description of your home, facilities and local attractions. You can add photos and also a video to your listing to make your offer stand out.

As soon as you're payment has been made your listing will be live on the site so that you can start contacting other members to arrange your exchanges. You'll be able to update your listing's details and photos at any time.

To contact other members you first need to Join Home Base Holidays. As a member you can add your home to the site and start contacting other members to arrange your home swaps. To contact other members you need to be logged into the site. Once logged in go to the home swap offer that you're interested in and click the “Contact member” button - this will open up a message box where you can type your message.

To read and respond to any messages you receive: from your Members Dashboard click the "Messages" link to open your inbox.

Log in to your member area and click the "Edit details" button. Then from the Edit details page select the "Edit photos" tab to navigate to the page where you can upload and edit your photos.

You can upload photos in either .jpg or .png format. Try to use good quality photos (at least 650px by 400px) so that they display at a good resolution. Alternatively do always feel free to email your photos to [email protected] and we will upload them for you.