Home swap holidays: how to stay for free and save thousands

As the cost of living crisis deepens, a ‘house swap holiday’ seems appealing – but are there pitfalls?

Over the past 19 years, Ewan and Laura Hastings have been on 59 holidays. But the couple are not millionaires with a jet-set lifestyle – they live in a small village in Scotland and work in the voluntary and public sector. Their secret is house swapping, a tactic that has saved them an estimated £70,000.

“Last month we went to Pacific Grove in California and spent two and a half weeks in this beautiful detached house with wonderful views overlooking Monterey Bay and the coastal mountains,” Ewan says. “Next month we’re off to Berlin.”