To think holiday homes could be used to house lots of refugees

[Letshaveablackcelebration]

Uk has a LOT of holiday homes and empty second homes. Surely they could be used to take a lot of Refugees aswell as spare rooms? It could support local economies all year round too rather than just in peak tourism seasons? The crisis is going to escalate rapidly in Ukraine- there are 44 million people in the country and so far it’s about 2 million who have fled and now countries like Moldova and the Poland are starting to struggle so we need to step up.

Aibu? It seems like an obvious solution. Obviously using the empty homes of oligarchs too is a preference.

I read an article about a woman who gave her French holiday home to a refugee family.

Apparently many bend the rules - advertising their properties but with periods blacked out, or cancelling bookings.

@DottyHarmer

Apparently many bend the rules - advertising their properties but with periods blacked out, or cancelling bookings.

HMRC can (and do) check the book-keeping/bank statements to look at the actual amounts earned. It's pretty easy for them to see the ones who aren't renting them out enough as their declared turnover will be below the average/normal levels.

@DottyHarmer

Apparently many bend the rules - advertising their properties but with periods blacked out, or cancelling bookings.

The rules in England have been very lax until the recent change which is long overdue.

However in Wales I have had to prove I hit the required number of nights let and provide detailed accounts and proof of letting for many years. Each year is checked.

And yes - I am taxed as a business. Which is what my holiday let is.

@DottyHarmer

Apparently many bend the rules - advertising their properties but with periods blacked out, or cancelling bookings.

I know of one local council who were VERY rigorous with their checking before granting covid grants during the lockdowns to holiday lettings businesses, even down to wanting to see the bank statements, booking diaries, let property insurance policies, etc., as evidence they were genuinely trading as a holiday letting business before covid struck.

@Badbadbunny really?
insurance states winter temp has to kept to 15c minimum (friend who has one tells me this)
you still have to pay basic costs of gas & electric & council tax which are no longer that low
Insurance for second homes or unoccupied properties are astronomical & exclude most things that ordinary house insurance
full council tax
You have to prove you have listed property for 180 days (I think) & it has to be rented for a min of 90 (I think these are the figures) they can block out some periods but they have to have it available the blocked periods may well ones that are perfectly legal or ones booked from last year - you cannot know for sure

Lots of requests for help coming through now on the various facebook pages. And the OP will be pleased to hear that there are also lots of people putting forward their self contained accommodation (in various cases holiday homes) to be used.

UK accommodation for Ukranian refugees facebook page

@WouldIwasShookspeared

I did say generally.

89,000 out of a population of how many millions?

I stand by my belief that most human beings in general are fundamentally selfish and of those doing the 'unselfish' thing a proportion of them are doing it for selfish reasons. This includes feeling good or superior, getting a few hundred extra quid etc

Ime, people, generally, are not selfless caring giving loving creatures who put strangers above themselves in any meaningful or prolonged way.

I think it's great that you believe in the goodness of mankind.

Its just that I don't.

Your thinking is too black and white. Is someone 'selfless' only if they put others above themselves in every single situation? Which is actually destructive, as the self is also a person that needs to be considered.

Every human is both selfish and selfless depending on the situation. It's not something you can quantify...saying 'if X% of people behave in this way, X% of the time, humans are selfless, otherwise they are selfish'. Nope. Too many variables involved.

Anybody who has a blanket opinion on the good or bad of humanity is wrong. It's too complex for that. It depends on your life. I used to be a cynic but have met many pure people.

@Alexandra2001

Many 2nd homes are just that and not rented, certainly many of the ones in our Cornish Village are just used as retreats by their owners.

No reason why the Govt couldn't pay a reasonable amount to the owners to house Ukrainians.

After all, many have used a council tax loop hole to zero rate their properties and then claimed 10k in Covid support - CCC believe approx 3000 home owners did this in Cornwall alone.

That's not a loop hole, if the properties aren't rented out as holiday homes then that's fraud. You can only "zero rate" a business property (it's acutally business rates but at the moment there is 100% rate relief from some councils) .

Tim Farron MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale stated 80 per cent of propertysales in Lakes were second homes.

[quote Letshaveablackcelebration]@Davros was I judging anyone at all? Massive assumption there. But if there are loads of empty homes & the government is willing to pay then what is the difference between holiday makers and refugees?[/quote]
The difference is you’d get £350 a month for housing a refugee where if you rent a house out as holiday let your getting £500-10000 a week for the same property.