12.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) and (3), a person responsible for carrying on a business consisting of the provision of holiday accommodation situated in the Step 1 area, whether in a hotel, hostel, bed and breakfast accommodation, holiday apartment, home, cottage or bungalow, campsite, caravan park or boarding house, canal boat or any other vessel must cease to carry on that business.
(2) A person referred to in sub-paragraph (1) may continue to carry on their business and keep any premises used in that business open—
(a)to provide accommodation for any person, who—
(i)is unable to return to their main residence;
(ii)uses that accommodation as their main residence;
(iii)needs accommodation for the purposes of a house move;
(iv)needs accommodation to attend a funeral, or following a bereavement of a close family member or friend;
(v)needs accommodation to attend a commemorative event to celebrate the life of a person who has died;
(vi)needs accommodation to attend a medical appointment, or to receive treatment;
(vii)needs accommodation for the purposes of access to, and contact between, parents and a child where the child does not live in the same household as their parents or one of their parents;
(viii)is a carer of a vulnerable person or a person who has a disability and needs respite;
(ix)is isolating themselves from others as required by law;
(x)is an elite athlete or the coach of an elite athlete and needs accommodation for the purposes of training or competition or, where an elite athlete is a child, their parent;
(xi)needs accommodation to visit a person who is dying,
(b)to provide accommodation for any person who needs accommodation for the purposes of their work, or to provide voluntary or charitable services,
(c)to provide accommodation for any person who needs accommodation for the purposes of education or training of a kind mentioned in paragraph 4(5) or, where that person is a child, their parent,
(d)to provide accommodation for the purposes of a women’s refuge or a vulnerable persons’ refuge,
(e)to provide accommodation or support services for the homeless,
(f)to provide accommodation for any person who is staying there in order to provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person or a person who has a disability who is staying in the same accommodation,
(g)to host blood donation sessions or food banks, or
(h)for any purpose requested by the Secretary of State or a local authority.
(3) Sub-paragraph (1) does not prevent the use of any accommodation for the purposes of voting, counting of votes or activities ancillary to voting or the counting of votes in an election or a referendum which is held—
(a)in accordance with provision made by or under an Act, or
(b)in accordance with the laws or regulations of another country or territory outside the United Kingdom, but in respect of which arrangements are made by a consular post or diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom for persons eligible to vote in that election or referendum to vote in the United Kingdom.