You could spend your vacation living in a castle, an old manor house, or even a former church – if you agree to swap your home for a week
- You could spend a week living in a castle, an old manor house, or even a former church – but you have to agree to swap your own house in return.
- Although travel restrictions make vacations abroad tricky, more people are choosing to enjoy staycations by swapping homes with someone else in their home country.
- Celia Pronto from Love Home Swap spoke to Business Insider about how the industry is changing during the pandemic.
If you've watched "The Holiday" and been jealous of Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz's house swap, you're not the only one.
But swapping houses for a week isn't just something that happens in the film – house swap services exist outside of the big screen.
You could spend a week living in a castle, an old manor house, or even a former church.
While international travel restrictions stop most vacations abroad like the Transatlantic trips in "The Holiday," the domestic house-swapping market is booming.
Before the pandemic, 40% of US exchanges done via Love Home Swaps were with another US household. Since March, this has gone up to 70%.
The UK, which doesn't have as strict travel restrictions, has similarly seen an increase in domestic swaps. Prior to the pandemic, one in three home swaps were with a fellow UK household. It is now one in two..
Love Home Swap is a members-only home swapping platform that operates in over 100 countries.
Members pay monthly subscription fees and earn points for hosting, which they redeem when they decide to travel – they pay a small service fee based on the trip's length.
The company has observed marked changes to the countries and destinations people are travelling to and from as people increasingly choose to stay local.
Celia Pronto, Love Home Swap's managing director, also noted that members are becoming less demanding regarding what they're looking for in a home swap.
"In the past, we would see members looking for a swap with very specific requirements with respect to location & amenities," Pronto told Business Insider. "What we are now seeing are really broad search criteria along the lines of members simply looking for anywhere in their country of residence with enough rooms to provide them with a change of scenery. They want anything to get them somewhere different!"
People are increasingly planning ahead, too.
In the past, bookings for each year usually gather momentum in January. But in August and September, one in five Love Home Swap bookings made by US members were for 2021.
The company says that its membership numbers have remained "incredibly resilient" throughout lockdown.
Many members are attracted by the lower costs associated with home swapping. The average Love Home Swap member saves £3,400 a year on holiday accommodation by using the service, Pronto said.
But the lower price isn't the only reason why people choose to home swap. The service has a prominent community aspect, Pronto said, and members value the comfort and safety of staying in a fully-furnished home. Owners can communicate with each other in advance, which makes swappers feel more confident.
And many members home swap once and keep returning, Pronto said. One in three of Love Home Swap's members travel at least four times a year.