09/05/2014 00:00
TW
0


Crackdown
Dear Sir,
 It seems to me that the noun/verb, Crackdown, is the most overworked word quoted and printed in the Bulletin lately. Following its use all last week, back it comes today (Sunday 4 May) predictably, in the hoteliers perennial quest to ban or investigate “illegal” lettings by owners of private dwellings.
 As I have said many times in these columns, there is NO such thing as an illegal let by these people. It only becomes illegal or a crime, if you wish, when owners do NOT declare to the Tax authorities, any profits engendered.
 However, as may be obvious, the difficulty is proving these charges. The owners can quite easily declare, that persons occupying their properties without paying for their stay as they are friends or relatives. I do, of course, speak from experience, as a former possessor of a holiday home.
 What I find reprehensible, is the cynical manner of the hoteliers timing in their calls for that inevitable use of ‘Crackdown’, as a counter to their own bad publicity.
 Yours Sincerely,
Phil Green
El Toro