Project Brighton: TrustedHousesitters lets you stay for free in homes across the world
TrustedHousesitters, a Brighton-based tech start-up, has been disrupting the way pet lovers travel whilst providing a solution to a global problem for pet owners. An online platform, TrustedHousesitters helps thousands of pet owners find like-minded, experienced and trustworthy sitters who will pet sit for free while they are away in exchange for a place to stay.
The company now has a global-community of 500,000 members across 140 countries and has facilitated more than 2 million nights of pet care. Started in 2010, co-founders Andy and Rachel Peck sold their cars and Brighton flat to bootstrap the idea and the company is now the largest travel business specialising in house and pet sitting. Now employing 45 people in their Brighton headquarters, the company has achieved national recognition for its success.
The concept came about after a near death experience in the Andes that led Andy to take time out to recover, by pet sitting in Spain. “As a house sitter, I stayed in some incredible places, which is an understandable perk for many people – but the biggest connection I made was with this scruffy dog called Dave. It made me think other people like me might want to house sit properties for free in order to care for pets they can’t or don’t own back at home and that for pet owners, this would be the best solution, so they could be free to travel.”
With 47 per cent of homeowners admitting that they struggled to travel because they own a pet, TrustedHousesitters solves a real global problem. Members either join as homeowners in search of people to look after their homes and pets whilst they are away, or pet lovers looking for an alternative way to travel, or as both a home and pet owner and a sitter.
TrustedHousesitters is unique because no money changes hands between the sitter and owner: the fair exchange of pet care for accommodation facilitates real connections with the pet at the heart of the arrangement. Unlike many other pet sitting networks that tend to focus on cats and dogs, all pet owners are welcome with needs ranging from dogs to small holdings, llama farms to goldfish.
47 per cent of homeowners admit they struggle to travel because they own a pet
Andy said: “We believe the business model will inspire others to share through trust, not through finance and in the future, consumers who are highly rated for their reliability, honesty and kindness will be favoured in every aspect of living.
“We’re proving that it works to use trust instead of currency, and that it’s a win-win for both parties. How else might a young couple, a digital nomad, or retired people afford six weeks in Barbados, staying in a villa with an infinity pool while caring for a golden retriever?”
Members pay an annual fee of £89 to be on the website and build a trust profile by being rated by other members and through a robust verification system. Listings on the site range from English country houses and castles to villas in Marbella or Barbados, chateaus in the Dordogne to penthouse apartments along the coast.
For some members, house sitting has become a way of life and they spend their time moving from house to house, enjoying rent free accommodation with the companionship of pets. Members Bryan and Jeanette Ferneyhough who recently featured on BBC’s ‘Right on the Money’ are currently travelling around the world rent free, whilst renting out their UK home.
Bryan, 55, said; “when most people retire, they take up golf or go on cruises. We’re swapping our home life for a nomadic year of house sitting, moving all around the world but doing this authentically by living within real communities and doing so with the company of pets, which we adore.”
For many members, TrustedHousesitters provides sitters opportunities to stay in locations and homes that might be unobtainable for the pennywise traveller, whilst homeowners can go away with the peace of mind that their pets and homes are well looked after.
