We are introducing a new system to Exchange Holiday Homes soon. The new system will enable everyone to choose from all of the holiday homes on the swap list and not have to find somone that wants to swap with them.

When you join. you deposit any number of weeks (minimum of 1 week) that you are happy for another member to use, each week earns credits according to the chart below , which can then be used to select another participating members holiday home.

This is worked out mainly by the number of bedrooms your property has, we have kept it as simple as possible but we have allowed for the time of year that you are swapping ( eg,. Peak season, mid season, this can vary slightly according to the country that you are in.

So you then be able to look at the lists and choose from any of the holiday homes depending on the credits that you have.

I haven't put all the details in, but hope this gives you all an idea. We think it gives a much bigger choice to all members, all the properties are all still holiday homes, you will all get details of who is swapping and using your home etc so ....

Comments please ...

This is a fabulous idea. I agree that the banking system should work on a weekly basis and according to number of bedrooms and seasonality per country. However, I think it would be good to keep some flexibility if possible without over complicating it. For example somebody owning a 3 bedroom property may be happy to swap for a one bedroom property if they only wish to travel as a couple and the one bedroom property is of a luxury standard.

Well they can swap with whoever they like.

The credits system is just to make it fair, so if a 3 bed home has 20 credits and a 1 bed has 10, then then can swap but they will use up either 20 or 10 credits.

There is no rule who they swap with they just need to have the credits. So if they were the 1 bedroom home then all they would need to do it bank another week . It has to be fair, it costs more to run and maintain a larger property.

I would be interested if people think this is fari, do you think that a 1 beroom home should have the same credits as a 3 or 4 beroom one ?

Certainly...it's a great idea and your proposals sound fair to me. I am keen to see it up and running. How soon?

Hi bloois

We have posted some details on the website www.exchangeholidayhomes.com/banking.htm

The functionality of the new software is ready , but being tested for any gremlins etc ! So we hope that it will be within the next couple of weeks!

I do agree that it has to be fair, however it's not necessarily true that it costs more to run a larger property. A newish 4 bed villa in Florida probably costs a lot less in maintenance than a 200 year old Welsh cottage!

yes of course it will vary,(maintenance, council taxes or similar, residences fees and so on) as will the possible rents people will charge if they are letting out thir holiday homes. Generally the larger the property the more the charges.

It is impossible to cover every difference without getting overly complicated, so we have tried to acknowledge certain differences. The extra credits points are a gentle gradual increase , again not to penalise smaller properties too much.

I hope this helps

Well we have everything in place now and it is up and running, so have a look and join now if you are interested .

It's free to join ! All credits earned last up to 3 years and you can add any weeks up to 1 year in advance.