Exchanging homes for holidays

Some house swap sites.

www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/dec/07/10-best-home-swap-home-sharing-websites

My friends used to do it regularly, they lived very near a station into London and they had some great holidays all over the world. But they returned one year to find that one of their pet chickens was missing and the people staying had had it for dinner ! They stopped after that .
I would find the stress of preparing the house and putting personal papers and documents in a safe place not worth the hassle.

I dont even like people staying over night. Im far too private to share my space. Even when I was rentying the agent had to fight to do an inspection.

I joined Trusted Housesitters about 4 months ago (because we have a dog) but I have been too nervous to use it.

My son pointed out that probably 99% of the time there would be no issues but what if 1% of the time the person house sitting decided to change your locks and squat in your house. It would not, apparently, be a criminal matter but a civil one, and it might take months of expensive county court procedures to regain your home - and in what state!

Of course, that is the alarmist perspective, and some of my choir friends have used this organisation without any problems whatsoever, but it scared me.

DD housesits for people with pets Eloethan.
If you go through an agency the housesitters should be vetted and all should be fine.
She has been on repeat stays for some people and grown quite fond of some of their pets. The last day or so she seems to spend cleaning to leave it immaculate for when the owners return.

A couple I knew years ago did this after they retired; they were retired teachers with their own nice home but did this for a change of scene.

I did wonder about it when the children were young, but never did it. I wouldn’t want the cleaning and tidying, nor the loss of privacy.
I wonder what the insurance company would say?