House sitting, done properly
Verified members, trained sitters, and a fair way to reward the person looking after your home and pets.
- Members who are verified
- Sitters who are trained
- Care that's rewarded
Your first year of membership is free.
MISSY | BRISBANE
70+
homes looked after by our founders
100%
of members ID-checked before they can message
5%
our fee, taken from tips
20
Founding Sitter places left
Why Home Tales
Verified
Before anyone can message a member, apply for a sit or list their home, they confirm their email and phone and verify their photo ID, so you know you're dealing with real people.
Trained
Every sitter passes House Sitting Basics, our free course, before they can apply for a sit. Further courses show what else they know, and every qualification is on their profile for hosts to see.
Rewarded
Hosts can tip their sitter, or promise a guaranteed tip that we hold until the sit is done. Great care deserves a proper reward.
Welcome to Home Tales!
Our first sit was in Bali in 2019. We were in the middle of a year-long trip around the world, getting pretty exhausted and running out of money. We signed up to one of the big house-sitting sites and connected with an English couple in Bali who had four dogs for us to look after for two months. It was an incredible way to experience Bali, one we never could have as regular tourists. Since then, we've looked after more than seventy homes across the world.
Along the way we kept hearing the same two stories. Sitters working full-time for no reward, and home owners having to trust a complete stranger with their most prized possessions, often coming back early to a house that had been treated as a free holiday. This seemed broken to us.
Home Tales is our answer: trained, verified sitters who get the proper reward they deserve for an excellent standard of work, so home owners can hand over their keys and have a worry-free time away.
And we want the pets to have the best time possible with their new best friends, an experience their owners can follow along from wherever they are.
Anything with a tail should have a great tale of their own.
Chris & Nicky, founders
What hosts have said about us as sitters
Reviews from our own sits, arranged through another house-sitting site before we built Home Tales.
Nicky and Chris embody everything you could wish for in a sitter. Whilst away they sent regular updates and fabulous photos of the dogs. The house was immaculate when we returned and the animals couldn't have been happier.
David & Liz
North Cadbury, UK
The dogs were really only moderately pleased to see us when we got back and keep looking up when someone comes to the door as if they are waiting for them... proof if it were needed that they were very happy.
Clare
Andover, UK
We left them in charge for 5 months. They took our cat for her monthly vet appointment, and when they had an issue with the washing machine were resourceful enough to fix it themselves.
Lydia
Castle Cary, UK
Whilst showing them around we realised our hamster was on the loose! They took this in their stride and that evening there was a photo message from Nicky showing us our hamster safely back in his cage.
Charlie & family
Oxford, UK
Nicky and Chris are a couple in whom you can place complete confidence. We returned home to find the house immaculate, the dog happy. I would recommend them without reservation.
Alex
Sapperton, UK
We returned to find food in the fridge, flowers on the table, bed stripped and washing machine on. What a pleasure to come home to a clean and tidy house and happy animals.
Sally & family
Winchester, UK
Our finest furry friends
When we manage to get them to sit still for more than two seconds.
A look inside
Examples of what hosts and sitters see on Home Tales.
Sitter profile
Chris & Nicky
ID verified
Qualifications
Pet profile
Crusoe
Routine
Breakfast at 7, dinner at 6. Let him out after breakfast; he's back by lunchtime.
Special needs
None
Sit update
Day 3
- Morning walk7:30
- Breakfast for Billy8:00
- Water the plants10:00
- Evening walk18:00
From your sitter
Long walk on the downs this morning and Billy found the garden tap again. Plants watered, post on the side, all well at home.
How it works
If you need a sitter
- 1
List your home, your pets and your dates, and choose how you'd like to reward your sitter.
- 2
Verified sitters apply. Read their profiles and qualifications, message them, and pick the right one.
- 3
While you're away, your sitter posts photo updates. Leave a review, and a tip if you chose one.
If you'd like to house-sit
- 1
Sign up and verify your identity, so hosts know who you are.
- 2
Take our courses, starting with House Sitting Basics, which is free. Every qualification you pass shows on your profile.
- 3
Apply for sits, look after homes and pets, and get rewarded for doing it well.
Become a Founding Sitter. Verify your ID and pass House Sitting Basics for a permanent badge. 20 of 20 places left.
A tip the sitter can count on
When you list your home, you choose how to reward your sitter: no tip, a tip at the end if you're happy, or a guaranteed tip agreed up front. A guaranteed tip is held by Home Tales, so the sitter knows it's there and you know it's only paid once the sit is done.
If the sitter cancels, you get the whole tip back. If you cancel within a week of the sit, the sitter receives half, less our 5% fee, for keeping the dates free.
Example: a £100 guaranteed tip
When you list your home
You set a £100 guaranteed tip. Sitters see it when they apply.
A week before the sit
Your card is charged £100 and Home Tales holds it.
When the sit is done
You confirm all went well, or it's released automatically 48 hours after the sit ends.
Your sitter is paid
They receive £95. Our fee is 5% of the tip.
Questions
Join Home Tales
Whether you need someone to look after your home and pets, or you'd like to be that person, your first year of membership is free.
Courses for sitters
Short courses that end in a test. Pass, and the qualification shows on your profile for hosts to see. House Sitting Basics is free.