People struggling to sell their home as the housing market grinds to a halt could swap their property like-for-like, it has been reported.

A plethora of house-swap websites have been launched and allow homeowners to trade their property with other users, according to the Independent.

The home is still valued and sellers still have to pay tax, on top of this a Home Information Pack is expected before the home can be listed.

Users then simply choose their preferred location and a maximum and minimum price.

Ralph Catto, chief executive of HomeSwapper4Sale, told the paper: "It''s not the same as trading on the open market which, as we are now seeing, can result in conflict and stalemate."

"When there are just two sides involved, there is little point arguing," he added.

The service is not available to first-time buyers as swappers need a property which they can exchange.

In America, property swapping is increasing dramatically, with craigslist.org seeing a 56 per cent increase in the number of properties advertised for swap in 2007, reports fwbusinesspress.com.

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