So, Boris has set out his roadmap to normality but ‘Remember the mayor in “Jaws” was so concerned about the economy, he told everyone it was safe to go back in the water’ Just Saying!
Yesterday, hopes of Easter being the complete opening of the 2021 holiday home rental season were dashed when the Prime Minister announced his roadmap, with self-catering not likely to resume normal trading until 21st June at the earliest.
- 8th March – All holiday accommodation stays closed.
- 29th March – Continued closure of all holiday accommodation.
- 12th April – Household mixing indoors continues to be banned by law, but self- catering accommodation can re-open. This will be limited to single households. It is unclear at present whether two households that are linked households, (a support bubble) will be treated as one.
- 17th May – Indoor hospitality re-opens and all other accommodation such as B&Bs, and hotels, re-opens. Indoor tourist attractions reopen.
- 21st June – This is the date on which all legal restrictions on social contact will be lifted so presumably we can expect an end to all restrictions on who can holiday together. The remaining attractions can re-open including night-clubs.
Our Reservations
The roadmap is full of reservations. The milestones are not fixed in position and the dates are stated to be the earliest dates and are not promised. The devil is as always in the detail and we simply do not know the detail. When the regulations are eventually published, we will know more but sometimes the regulations themselves are far from clear. (for example, when is a gathering not a gathering? We do not really know). And regulations typically arrive at the last minute without parliamentary scrutiny or indeed any scrutiny.
So like the mayor, Boris said it was safe to go back in the water, but slowly, one step at a time!