Ciara Beatty and Raymond Kelly were just home from a week’s holiday in Doonbeg, Co Clare with their 18-month-old son Lochlann when they booked another break in Galway for later in the summer.
They didn’t have to think twice, because having recently been convinced of the advantages of house swaps, the young couple are unfazed by typical concerns about accommodation costs and availability.
“Travelling with a toddler is very straightforward and hassle-free this way‚” said Ciara, a secondary schoolteacher who is pregnant, and so keen to avoid the stresses of airport delays and long flights this year.
When in Doonbeg – luckily during last month’s glorious sunny spell- she realised that some people were paying up to €300 per night for a house there – but that another big issue for many was finding any holiday accommodation regardless of the price.
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[ Home for the holidays: the benefits of house-swapping ]
From Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow the couple wondered if anyone would be interested in visiting their area before signing up with Home4Home, an agency specialising in house swaps within Ireland.
They also had the usual first-time worries about security and having their home spick and span for the visitors, but soon realised that everyone has the same concerns and that trust is key with home exchanges.
“We started building a profile of things you can do near where we live,” said Ciara who suddenly realised there was much to offer, including easy access to the Wicklow Mountains, the Wicklow Way, and with Dublin within easy reach. “Then we realised we have a really nice house with an enclosed garden, which is safe for kids, a fully equipped modern kitchen, Disney Plus and a village aspect, rather than being in a busy seaside town,” said Ciara. She is working part-time so also appreciates the huge savings involved, the main attraction for many doing house exchanges.
You might feel strange about sleeping in someone else’s bed but it’s like staying in a hotel. We have never had a bad experience
“Of course there are privacy and security issues but the one thing to emphasise is you only exchange houses when you are 100 per cent happy with the people you are engaging with,” said Peter Timmins, a Galway businessman who helped establish Home4Home in 2021. His clients include “a lot of teachers and retired people who have time on their hands,” he says, adding that people who house swap for holidays tend to be “like-minded people”.
Most families seek out other young families for exchanges knowing that if there are small children, there are likely to be toys, books and maybe a trampoline available, he says.
“And retired people know other retired people are not going to be having raves in their house,” he said. “People worry about privacy but you can lock a room if there is personal stuff in there. And ironically the only time my house was burgled in the 25 years since I built it was when I was away on holidays. So there is a security element to actually having someone staying in your house.”
Mark and Alison Sheehan, from Bunclody, Co Wexford have been doing house swaps, in Ireland and internationally since 2018. “It is the only way we are going on holidays from now on,” says Alison, a mother of four aged from eight to 14, who says their first exchange to Belfast was “a game changer”. Since then they have swapped houses with people in California, Howth, Galway, Meath and Orlando.
“It saves us so much money,” said Alison. “Also I love that it is a home away from home. If they have family you might find they have a trampoline in the garden, or toys that are a novelty for the kids. If you are in a hotel room or an apartment when you come back after a day out you don’t have anything to entertain the kids, but in a home you might have Netflix and for a bedtime story you take a book off the shelf. You don’t have to pack loads of things.”
She doesn’t worry about nosy parkers. “It was a little strange at first but you can lock away bank statements or anything you don’t want seen,” said Alison. “You might feel strange about sleeping in someone else’s bed but it’s like staying in a hotel. We have never had a bad experience.”
There is no doubt about it that the savings are wonderful but also when the weather is bad people like the fact that they are not going back to a caravan or hotel
William O’Doherty from near Ennis, Co Clare echoed the point about how well-used hotel beds are likely to be when a friend admitted to being squeamish about sleeping in someone else’s bed. William pointed out that up to 200 people could have slept in a hotel bed compared to one or two in a home-swap bed, and his friend has been engaging in house exchanges since.
Having been home swappers since 2006, William and his wife Mary Horgan estimate they have saved over €80,000 over 25 holidays, mostly on foreign trips taken with their four children “and usually a Granny”. Now retired, William says the couple look forward to many more Irish exchanges and says reports of Taylor Swift fans being charged more than €1,000 for a hotel bed in Dublin almost a year before her concerts, underline how home swaps are a no-brainer. “Once you do the first house swap, you will be reluctant to go to hotels again. You save so much money, which you can spend on going out to nice places and giving yourselves treats.”
Marie Murphy, director of HomeLink knows the savings on accommodation is a huge attraction but doesn’t believe it is the main driver for many of her clients. “If you look at the profile we have, the vast majority are professionals with a lot of money. They like the personal touch and they like to feel they are in a home rather than a hotel room. There is no doubt about it that the savings are wonderful but also when the weather is bad people like the fact that they are not going back to a caravan or hotel.”
HomeLink had until recently been an agency geared towards those holidaying abroad but now they cater for domestic exchanges also. “On some level we were forced into it because of Covid,” said Murphy who found people enjoyed visiting parts of Ireland they had never considered before.
Now that people are free to travel abroad she has noticed that many are opting to do that for their main summer holiday, but are doing house swaps within Ireland for long weekends or at Easter.
Retired teachers Fionnuala and Jim King from Raphoe, Co Donegal have done 55 home exchanges over 25 years, in Ireland and abroad. While she has never totted up how much they saved, the couple are just back from an exchange to Castletownbere, Co Cork and having priced comfortable holiday homes around there which would be big enough for their family group of six, Fionnuala knows they saved €4,000 on accommodation over two weeks. “That money would be just gone.”
But she says the financial advantage is not the only attraction. “It is having a home away from home. A hotel is okay for one night or two nights. I like to be able to relax. They have everything that you need.”
People’s carbon footprint is an issue now and sustainability is a big thing with domestic house swaps. You are not flying anywhere. This will become more important in the future
The Kings like exchanging with other retired people “because you don’t have to go at peak times. You can go any time of the year”.
A former French teacher, she was once a regular visitor to France but “Covid has clipped our wings a bit” and since the pandemic the couple have holidayed in Ireland and England. She doesn’t worry too much about getting her house ready for visitors. “It’s an absolutely wonderful opportunity to get your house sorted. It means once a year there is a thorough cleaning, throwing out stuff you don’t need.”
Peter Timmins said Home4Home was the product of an era when even after the country started to slowly open up after Covid, “there was still a lot of paranoia about infection and people did not want to go to hotels”. With just over 130 clients on his books, he says there is still a long way to go before home exchanges become the norm in Ireland but recently there has been a spike in interest which he attributes to cost of living pressures.
Anyone who googles the price of hotel rooms especially in cities like Dublin all understand the attraction, he believes, with availability also an issue.
“To be honest it is still not really an Irish thing but when you sit down with people and they consider it, they think ‘gosh this makes sense’.”
While Home4Home has started getting queries from Irish emigrants living abroad who would be willing to swap their pad in Sydney or Malaga for a house close to relatives in Ireland, he believes the future is bright for domestic exchanges. “People’s carbon footprint is an issue now and sustainability is a big thing with domestic house swaps. You are not flying anywhere. This will become more important in the future.”
