‘Stanley Johnson loophole’ allows overseas travel to look after second home

Legislation proposes £5,000 fine for holidaymakers, but will allow trips for ‘purchase, sale, letting or rental of residential property’

Figueretes beach in Ibiza, Spain, last summer. Foreign travel for most will not be permitted until 17 May at the earliest (Getty Images)

An exemption dubbed the “Stanley Johnson clause” allowing people to travel overseas in connection to second homes abroad is to be included in new coronavirus rules.

The legislation, which could see people leaving England for a foreign holiday left facing a £5,000 fine, will allow trips for the “purchase, sale, letting or rental of a residential property”.

The new regulations, which cover the prime minister's “road map” out of lockdown for England, include a ban on leaving the country without a valid reason.

MPs will vote on the rules on Thursday, with the laws expected to come into force on 29 March.

One of the exemptions allows travel to visit properties, estate agents, sales offices or show homes overseas if a person is seeking to buy or sell a foreign home.

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The legislation gives an exemption for “preparing a residential property to move in” or “to visit a residential property to undertake any activities required for the rental or sale of that property”.

Other exemptions include travel for work, education or medical treatment. Elite sportspeople and those providing care for a vulnerable person are also permitted to leave the country.

Boris Johnson’s father was criticised last summer after he travelled to Greece to visit his mountain villa, despite government advice urging Britons against all but essential international travel.

Stanley Johnson, who has been caught breaching Covid guidelines at least four times in the UK, argued that he was on “essential business trying to Covid-proof my property in view of the upcoming letting season”.

He spoke to reporters from a dirt track outside his villa on Mount Pelion last July, telling them he went to Greece for “a quiet time, to organise the house”.

Experts said at the time that high-profile figures close to the government like Stanley Johnson were creating an impression that there was “one rule for them and one rule for us” – warned this reduced public compliance and risked a second wave.

Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP, told The Guardian: “For hardworking families facing the prospect of missing out on summer holidays, it will stick in the craw that the government has inserted a 'Stanley Johnson clause' to Covid rules that allows people to come and go if they have property abroad.

“It seems it's one rule for them and another for the rest of us.”

The government has warned that although there will be a gradual easing of lockdown from this weekend, people may have to sacrifice long-desired holidays abroad because of a third wave of coronavirus in Europe and the perceived threat of new variants being brought back to the UK.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, told Sky News on Tuesday: “We are seeing this third wave rising in some parts of Europe and we’re also seeing new variants and it is very important that we protect the progress that we’ve been able to make here in the UK.

“The earliest date by which we will allow for international travel ... is 17 May. That has not changed.”