Henry Vanderpump, 42, his wife Elliw, 39, and their two young children have turned the rising cost of holidays into an opportunity – by swapping homes with strangers. Over the past two years, the family, who live in a five-bedroom house in Tarporley, rural Cheshire, have taken two home-exchange holidays and have another planned this summer. The deal: they stay in another family’s home while that family stays in theirs. Neither side pays for accommodation, though they do pay an annual membership fee to Home Link, the listings site they use to book the trips.
The savings have been transformative. Henry says they have saved around £2,500 on accommodation per trip, plus a further £700 on transport, as they also swap cars. “We used to have one holiday a summer, now we have two [because of the savings we make from home exchanges]. And the kids love the idea of living in someone else’s house while that person is living in theirs.”
“Home swaps save a Cheshire family £2,500 per trip, letting them take two holidays each summer.”
But for Henry, the real draw isn’t the money – it’s the authentic experience. When the family visited Hamburg in 2024, they stayed in a suburb and lived “like a German family” for a week, exploring lakes on the edge of the city recommended by their hosts. Last year, they stayed in “a very Scandinavian house” in suburban Copenhagen, which was “all on one level and had no clutter”. “They also left us several electric bikes to use,” Henry says. “We cycled to the beach, swam in the Baltic and tried restaurants they recommended.”
Home exchanges have been around since at least the 1950s, but commentators say more people are embracing them because of the rising cost of living, or simply to experience a new type of travel. Not everyone is comfortable with strangers sleeping in their bed and using their kitchen, and for those who are, there’s a lot of preparation and tidying before guests arrive. Flexibility is key – Home Link says members typically send 10-15 messages before getting an offer. “Last minute bookings won’t always work,” says May Burrough, 38, a chief operating officer from London who has done 34 home swaps over the last three years using HomeExchange. Instead of direct exchanges, she hosts people in her central London flat while she’s overseas staying with her partner in France, building up points on the platform.
For the Vanderpumps, the trade-off is worth it. Their Danish hosts left them electric bikes; they left their own home to a stranger. And the children, Henry says, are already excited about their next swap – the chance to live someone else’s life for a week, while a stranger lives theirs.