The Merceron family are travelling in New Zealand staying in free accommodation via HomeExchange. Photo / Supplied
Thousands of Kiwis are temporarily swapping their homes - and saving considerably more than if they were to stay in an Airbnb. Here’s how to do it and the rules to be aware of.
The financial burden of holidays has been particularly tough on Kiwis in recent years. Since the start of the Covid pandemic, the cost of a one-way flight from Auckland to Europe has risen by more than 87%. Currently, the aviation industry is grappling with fuel cost increases driving up airfares, and the cost-of-living crisis has forced many to make difficult trade-offs - from cancelling insurance to rethinking that destination wedding.
Airbnb has been a popular way to offset the costs of hotel accommodation, with more than 73,000 listings in New Zealand. But as everyday costs continue to bite, some budget travellers have been pushed to seek more affordable options for home-style stays.
It’s led to the growth of home-swapping sites, such as HomeExchange and Kiwi House Swap. Unlike Airbnb, these companies operate on an annual membership model, so members can enjoy all the personal touches and lived-in feel of staying in someone else’s home, as often as they like, for an annual fee.
Quentin Merceron, 35, has been a member of HomeExchange for the past year. The platform, which rose to fame when it was included in the plot of the 2006 film The Holiday, has 280,000 members across 155 countries, including 1800 in New Zealand.
Following an online sign-up, a verification process, and a yearly payment of US$235 ($409), members can list their property on the website. When listing, you answer questions about the property and what is available to use for guests. At the end, HomeExchange determines how many points your property is worth, which travellers use to stay at other accommodation listed on the site for free.
Members can engage in a reciprocal exchange, where two members swap homes, either simultaneously or on different dates. Or they use points to stay at a home without requiring someone to stay at theirs.
The system enabled Merceron, a pharmacist originally from France and based in Germany, to travel to New Zealand with his wife Lisa and 10-month-old baby for a two-month holiday.
They are paying nothing for accommodation.
Merceron says that between the three of them, they have been saving about $2000 a week by using HomeExchange instead of paying for a hotel. But for Merceron, it’s not about the money.
“Because the money we do not spend [on hotels], we will most likely spend it somewhere else,” he says. “So it’s like we get to enjoy our trip even more - instead of paying for hotels, maybe we go to a restaurant every day.”
He says what makes HomeExchange particularly incentivising is its points system. Members primarily earn points through hosting guests at their home, but the business has other ways to keep members engaged with its product.
“They have a lot of games,” says Merceron, “For example, they say if you watch The Holiday with a friend, and take a selfie, they’ll give you 100 points.
“If you organise an event, you gain 300 points ... for me, 300 points is worth two nights for us in this trip.”
While points help people use HomeExchange, they’re drawn to it for different reasons.
“There is a high trust in the people who are on HomeExchange,” says Merceron. “It’s a kind of community feeling.
He used to be a habitual Couchsurfer, another website that enables travellers to crash at a stranger’s home for free, usually on their couch. Becoming a father changed everything.
“We have a baby now, so we were looking for a clean place because sometimes Couchsurfing is not that clean, or you don’t really know what to expect,” Merceron says. “That’s less the case with HomeExchange.”
Kiwi House Swap is a local house-swapping company that is generally cheaper than its international competitors. Currently priced at $99 annually, director Alix East indicated the company is looking to reduce prices further.
There are around 100 existing listings, mostly Kiwis swapping their homes within New Zealand, and a few international listings.
Asked what she thinks draws members to sign up, East said, “Kiwis like to switch with other Kiwis”.
“I’ve been amazed by how many people like to swap within New Zealand,” says East.
“There’s a similarity in just expectation, and it just gets rid of any worries about what kind of property I’m going to when they can have this secure messaging and personal messaging beforehand.”
She says people find comfort in not having to make their home “immaculate” - the home is “just for Kiwis”.
“A lot of our members will describe their property as comfortable, as lived in, full of joy, come and enjoy it, come and use our games and toys,” she says. “They’re not looking for that immaculate holiday home experience.”
“It’s not all just done by email or chat - we do encourage that personal [interaction].
There is a catch, however. You have to be a homeowner to use both home swapping sites.
“A condition of joining is that you list your home with images,” says East.
Kiwi House Swap requires members to send a passport or driver’s licence for personal identification, and also a document showing proof of home ownership, such as a council rates letter.
“We also reserve the right to check public websites for rates and owner information,” the company says on its website.
East added that they considered the service being available to tenants, but there were too many layers of complication when navigating with landlords.
In some countries, housesitting is considered work as you are providing a service in exchange for the cost of accommodation. That means a work visa may be required, and members should research carefully before accepting a swap in a different country.
New Zealand Immigration states on its website that anyone working remotely in New Zealand on a visitor visa cannot engage “with a New Zealand business or person in New Zealand for goods or services, for example, free accommodation in exchange for a review.
It adds: “If you want to work for or with a New Zealand-based employer, you must apply for a visa that will allow you to work in New Zealand.”
Visa rules have caught out housesitters in the past. In 2022, Australian tourist Madolline Gourley arrived in Los Angeles and was on her way to a housesitting opportunity in Canada. But authorities denied her entry as she was travelling on an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) visa waiver scheme, instead of a work visa.
Subsequently, Gourley had a “block” put on her passport after she answered “yes” to the entry refusal question on the NZ Travel Declaration form. Speaking to Stuff, Gourley said:
“A Qantas worker then tried to swipe/scan my passport at his computer and it wouldn’t read. He tried this three times before going to speak to his supervisor.”
Kiwis should also check their insurance policy before arranging for strangers to stay in their home through home swapping.
HomeExchange provides certain protections as part of its fees, for example, for damage and theft, but Kiwi Home Swap does not.
“We really recommend that people talk to their home insurer before they swap,” says East. “What we find is that because they’re classed as a home swap, which is classed as a non-paying guest, most insurers don’t have a problem with insuring you for accidental damage.
“What you need to think about is just the potential for theft or malicious damage.”
For those who want to swap locally and forgo a membership fee, there are a number of Facebook groups set up to help facilitate the exchange. Facebook groups House Sitting New Zealand has more than 70,000 members, and House Swap NZ has more than 16,000.
“There are a lot of things you have to buy in this world,” says Merceron, “and this is one of the few things that is without money involved.”
Varsha Anjali is a journalist in the lifestyle team at the Herald. She is based in Auckland.