<p>Urban housing markets—particularly in large cities—have been under considerable pressure for a good 10 years. An influx of new residents, low levels of new housing construction, as well as property speculation, are leading to rising rents, displacement pressure and residents not downsizing. New housing construction, however, is not the only relevant way to increase the supply of housing; the needs-based distribution of existing living space can also make under-utilized living space available; moreover, this is an urgent necessity from an ecological point of view. The instrument of home swapping could be an option to motivate households currently living in flats that are too big (e.g. seniors) to swap their flats with households in cramped living conditions (e.g. families with children). First studies, however, indicate that the instrument has hardly been used so far owing to numerous challenges. As the debate on home swapping has, so far, mainly focused on the effectiveness of municipal swapping platforms, there is a&#xa0;lack of studies in the discourse that consider the tenants’ perspective. Hence, this article sheds light on the motives and challenges of tenants for and with the instrument of home swapping on a&#xa0;private home-swap platform.</p>