Single Households and Support Bubbles Explained

A Roadmap Out of Lockdown for England was announced by the government on 22nd February; this set out dates for the opening up of self catering holiday accommodation in England. From 12th April you can come and stay at one of our luxury holiday houses as a single household or support bubble; from 17th May this is extended to two households/support bubbles or 6 individuals. From 21st June, it is hoped that all limitations will be removed and that we can return to business as usual. These dates are all subject to certain criteria being met with regards to vaccinations, infections rates and new variants.

To clarify, we thought we’d explain more about single households and support bubbles as it’s important that rules are adhered to every step of the way.

From the same household

That’s straightforward - if you’re a family of up to 6 or more from one household, no problem, you can all go on holiday together just as you normally would. 

Example: Two parents with 8 children (a total of 10 people) who all live in the same household can go on holiday together.

From the same support bubble

What does that mean exactly? Well, if you didn’t know already, a support bubble, as per gov.uk. is a support network between a household with only one adult in the home (known as a single-adult household) and one other household of any size. If you form a support bubble you can then think of it as one household, but here’s the thing – you shouldn’t really change who’s in your bubble.

That single adult thing, clarification please. Single people who live alone, obviously, or single parents with children who were under 18 years of age on 12 June 2020 count.

Example: A family of two parents and 4 children could form a support bubble with a single parent with 4 children, making a support bubble of 11.

What if you share custody of children? You can form a support bubble with another household other than the one that includes your child’s other parent. So, imagine this scenario – you’re a single adult with three children and your ex partner and you share custody of them. That’s fine, the children can still see both parents and spend time at their different households, and you (and your kids) can still form a support bubble with another family – so for example, you might buddy up with your sister’s family who could be two parents and four children. So, that’s 6 from their family and 4 from yours, 10 of you who can all go on holiday together.

What if you want to change your support bubble? The government advice is to avoid close contact with your existing bubble or other people for 14 days before forming your new bubble. Be aware that if someone in your bubble develops symptoms or tests positive you all have to follow the stay at home guidance. You'll find more on the official government website.

Note that this information applies only to properties in England. We are still awaiting news of the rules for holiday houses in Wales and will update our website as soon as we have this.

If you’re travelling from abroad there are rules and restrictions that may apply depending on where you are coming from, so we advise that you check this before you book. We also advise that you take out travel insurance which covers you if your holiday is affected because you have to self isolate or if you test positive for coronavirus.

And very importantly, remember that the safety and well being of our guests is our priority, so our big group accommodation carries the Visit England Good to Go mark which means each property is subject to very strict hygiene procedures and is considered low risk. Please do your bit too.

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