Anyone know of any free home exchange holiday sites?

[WideWebWitch]

I'm trying to arrange a family holiday: me, dp, ds and my 2 sisters and 1 BIL. The idea is that we swap my sisters gorgeous 2 bed, 2 bathroom loft appartment in Clerkenwell for a 3 bedroom house somewhere in France/Italy/Spain for 2 weeks sometime in the summer (we're all poor, so need a cheap break).

I've looked at some home exchange sites but they all want a joining fee, some up to £95. Not much you might say if you manage to find someone to successfully swap with, but I can't bear to part with it unless I know there's going to be the perfect place there! So far, I haven't found that. Does anyone know of any sites or noticeboards where you don't have to pay to register or to contact home exchangers? Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

[Ems]

The NCT do something WWW, either wait for someone on here to tell - we've discussed it somewhere before, or contact them, they have a website.

[Rhiannon]

I'm a member of the NCT scheme, you need to have a child under 13 to take part but you don't have to be an NCT member. Phone 0870 444 8707 and ask for Denise Tupman's number. I think there is only one property listed that is abroad.

I also belong to Homelink, an international scheme. It does cost £95 but it's great fun. The brochure you get is the size of a telephone directory and it's great looking at all the houses on offer. I would recommend it, we are swapping in Cornwall in August and hoping to go somewhere next year too. R

[SueW]

The NCT's is 20+VAT pa, I believe. AFAIK, it's mainly UK homes so may not be useful for you. The list is updated 3x per year and email updates are sent out too for those that register for them. There are around 250 people on the list.

There have been opportunities to go outside the UK - I believe there were people on the list who had homes in the US and France. If you wanted to know more, you could try emailing [email protected] to have an informal 'chat' with Denise who runs it.

Other than that, I don't know of any other possibilities, sorry, other than keeping your fingers crossed that someone reading your message lives in a 3 bed house in a warm sunny country and fancies the sound of your sister's apartment

[Homesweethone]

If anyone is looking for a free home exchange company there is one with free membership for a year just started up called Home Sweet Home Exchange they don't have many yet but worth joining for future holidays as it's free anyway.
homesweethomeexchange.com