Why pay to rent a cottage or apartment when you can stay in a stylish house just like your own? EyeforTravel takes a looks at a growing trend and wonders if this could threaten the traditional rental market which may need think more closely about offering the home-from-home experience.

The Jones’ are a well-educated middle class family. Both parents are gainfully employed in well-paying jobs. But even they have been feeling the pinch and so to tighten their purse strings this summer they decided to exchange their home with a French family. The French family had tickets for the Olympics and the Jones’ wanted to escape Olympic mania.

They are not alone. According to a recent survey by upmarket members-only home exchange for holidays’ service, Love Home Swap increasing numbers of people are looking to home swap this year. The company’s founder, Debbie Wosskow, expects the trend to continue in to 2013.

Money saving, she says, is undoubtedly a part of this; a recent survey found that Love Home Swap members save an average of £2,202 on accommodation costs. As a result 62% were able to take extra or longer holidays in a year.

While the financial benefits of home swapping can be substantial, that is not the only reason for doing so. For the Jones’ there is an element of convenience. They argue that quite often when you stay in a holiday cottage it is ill equipped for the needs of a family. If you are staying in the home of somebody with children of a similar age, however, chances are the home will have all the things you and children may need. It’s not just a holiday exchange it is a life exchange, they argue.

A social experience

Trust is of course an issue but the Internet has made communicating ahead of the trip much easier. Home swappers exchange regular emails, can have a virtual tour via Skype and often give insider tips about the area ahead of the trip. This insider knowledge in people’s time-strapped lives is considered incredibly valuable. For Wosskow another key factor in the growth of home swapping is the rise of social media in people’s day-to-day lives. Successful home swapping is all about building a sense of trust – you need to feel confident that the people you are swapping with will take care of your home in your absence and vice-versa.

For this reason social media is a central to Love Home Swap’s strategy. “We're the first home exchange site to allow users to connect via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, enabling them to find connections from within their wider social circle and build trust with other swappers around the world.

Wosskow says they keep a close eye on all social media and allow members to feedback directly via the site as well. So far, there have been few issues relating to the actual exchanges, rather those to do with a lack of communication about how to manage the basics around a swap, such as linen and laundry.

Focus on insurance

Home swapping is not new. So while it may be a growing trend, it is still a competitive marketplace with countless agencies to choose from. There are the more traditional players like Home Exchange (41,000+ listings in 152 countries) and Home Link (13,000 home swappers from 78 countries) but there are also new players like Couchsurfing, which invites you to ‘travel the world and stay with friends you haven’t yet met’.  

Like all players in the competitive travel business firms have to differentiate. Love Home Swap aims to do so by connecting stylish people and their stylish homes. There is a yearly membership but you can upgrade for the company to find suitable properties on your behalf. “We’ve taken the concept and given it a modern twist. Our service offers an altogether more aspirational experience with thousands of amazing properties listed in more than 100 countries around the world - from Australia to Argentina,” she says.

Wosskow is hoping to tap that grey market of up to 10 million people worldwide who are home swapping with friends, family and their wider social network without ever signing up to an official home exchange site.

Like all Internet marketplaces there is risk attached (The Rise of Internet Marketplaces; Threat or Opportunity). However, while Wosskow does not believe that legal issues will threaten the growth of the business, insurance has definitely been an area of focus. “As we expand more and more into the mainstream, we decided to develop a bespoke home-swapping insurance product with Hiscox which will launch later this month,” she says.