City dwellers swap going abroad for a long-term stay in the sticks

OWNERS of holiday homes in the UK have been besieged with inquiries from city folk hoping to book for the whole summer as they ride out the coronavirus crisis.

Oliver’s Travels, which has manor houses and country cottages on its books, said it typically gets “very few” requests for long-term lets, but this month 20 per cent of its UK inquiries were for stays of up to 12 weeks.

Oliver Bell, founder of the Londonbased company, said: “We have seen a great interest for stays in the UK where families are looking for somewhere to hunker down over a long period this summer, as well as increased demand for remote locations, showing that there’s a desire to go off grid and switch off from current affairs.”

As companies continue to ask staff to work remotely, families are realising that they can spend their summer by the coast, said Jamie Jamieson, a property expert in Norfolk and Suffolk.

He said: “It’s definitely a thing happening at the moment with numerous people asking about it.

“About 95 per cent seem to be coming from London where they have small gardens and they want to be in a larger space inside and out with a garden and ideally not too far from the sea.”

But Darren James, director of handpickedcottages.co.uk, who has seen an increase in wealthy clientele looking for up to six weeks away, believes the rise is due to the risk of possible quarantine periods if travelling overseas.

“People book these length holidays when they go abroad but now they’re booking them in the UK because it’s more convenient.

“If you wanted to take a two-week holiday to Greece I suspect you’ll have to quarantine and it will double the length of a holiday,” he said.

Vanessa Branson, who owns the private Scottish island of Eilean Shona, with 10 properties for rent, has also experienced the same trend.

She said the good weather meant “the UK has become rather exotic” and guests “want to spend longer blocks of time in one place”.