Tory paying back £20k ‘living grant’ used to do up holiday rental

As reported by the National, Scottish councillor Julie Currie used a £20k grant to do up a “chic abode” which she subsequently used as a holiday rental. The issue is that the grant exists to help landlords and owners do up empty properties to rent or live in. While Currie has said she plans to live in the property at some unknown point in the future, she’s been making good money from it in the meantime.

Tory caught

The Dumfries and Galloway Town Centre living Fund was established to combat the issue of depopulation. As reported, the volume of long-term unoccupied homes is 2.31%, which is higher than the national average of 1.8%.

Reading the page for the fund, the Council seems to be targeting their money at live-in owners and renters – not people who want to make extra cash through Airbnb. Specifically, they state:

once works are completed, the property must either:
– be made available for letting at or below the local housing allowance rate for a minimum of 5 years following completion of the works, or
– be occupied by the owner or their family for a minimum of 5 years

Currie isn’t doing either of these things. Potentially the works aren’t complete yet, although if that is the case, it seems odd that she’s able to let it out to holiday goers. She’s getting decent money for that too, as the National report:

She is the owner of a property described on rental websites as a “charming holiday cottage” which is being rented out for £139 a night and as much as £255 in the summer.

You’ll note that’s “charming holiday cottage”; not ‘half-finished doer-upper‘.

Currie does seemingly realise she did something wrong, as she was already paying back the grant before the National drew attention to the story. Reportedly, she began repaying the grant before being elected as a councillor because the repairs were taking longer than anticipated. Presumably those repairs are finished now, of course, given the fact that she’s using the property as a rental.

When contacted by the National, Currie said:

I think I probably need to speak to somebody within the council just for a bit of guidance with this because it’s getting, it’s nearly paid off as we speak.

So that’s reassuring then.

Local interests

Of course, it’s entirely possible Currie made an honest mistake. Perhaps she failed to read the grant’s rules, or sustained some sort of head injury in the application process.

Even if she didn’t fiddle the council on purpose, though, she’s not selling herself as an ideal candidate for local government.

Featured image via Scottish Conservatives (Wikimedia)