Sorry, this is another 'is it ok to do this?' posts, but I'm genuinely a bit conflicted and, given all the 'stay away' messages we are hearing, in particular from those in West Country, I'd be interested in their view.
My daughter is a student at Exeter. She's in her second year and shares a privately rented house with 5 friends. They all left the house before lockdown and returned to their families, leaving their belongings in the house. The lease runs until the middle of August and she has a new one on a different property starting at the beginning of September.
My daughter has no need to go back to Exeter for study purposes. She is currently doing exams, but when they are over she would like to go back to Devon. At some point we will have to go, because we have to collect her stuff. The same is true for her friends. The question is whether they could go back to Exeter in June/July/August to live in the house they are paying for, and enjoy some spending time together, before bringing their stuff home and handing back their keys.
I know people are not allowed to visit second homes. But students are a bit of a grey area, I think. She could have stayed there throughout this period if she had wanted to and given that there is only a 2 week gap between her lease on her current house expiring and the new one starting, there is an argument that Exeter is her primary home until August 2021. She is registered with a doctor there but is registered to vote in both places.
I've said that we need to wait and see what is said about the next phase and what is said then about mixing households. But I'd be interested in people's opinions, and especially from those in Devon on how locals might view this.