The site shuts for Christmas: do we keep paying for the crew's flat?

21 of 26of our crew stays booked for 15 December already run through New Year

30 daysnotice on 15 of those 21 stays

20 Novabout the last day to give 30 days' notice before a 20 December finish

£152mof UK rail works planned for the Christmas break, crews included

The site closes on 18 December and reopens on 4 January. The crew flies home. Somebody in the office looks at the accommodation invoice and asks the obvious question: why are we paying for two weeks of empty beds?

Our argument: for a crew that is coming back, the empty fortnight is usually the cheapest part of the stay. What costs money is handing the flat back and finding out in January that it has gone. And the decision is not made in December. On most long stays it is made in November, by whoever remembers the notice period.

When does the decision actually have to be made?

Earlier than most bookers think. Long crew stays in flats are usually let month by month with a notice period, not night by night. In our booking data, 21 of the 26 confirmed crew stays booked for 15 December 2026 already run through to the New Year. Of those 21, 15 can be ended on 30 days' notice, four are monthly and non-refundable, and one has three months' notice.

So to hand a flat back on 20 December on 30 days' notice, the notice has to go in by about 20 November. Miss that date and you pay for the break anyway, without the choice. The equipment hire firms already work this way: one large UK site cabin supplier asks for off-hire notice by 9 November for orders of more than 100 units, and warns that hire charges continue over Christmas because the units stay on site even when the teams are away.

Why not just hand it back and re-book in January?

Because January is when everyone restarts at once. A flat that suits a crew of six, with parking and a short drive to site, is not sitting empty waiting for you. Last winter our sample was small (ten European crew stays live on 15 December 2025), but it split evenly: five checked out between 19 and 21 December and five ran straight through.

Re-booking also restarts the search, the purchase order, the guest names, the deposit and the clean. The old deposit can take weeks to come back, as we explained in why the deposit has not come back. Our clients have saved 20-30% by using the correct market for the length of stay, and that saving depends on the stay staying long.

Does a Christmas break change the tax or posting position?

In UK hotels, VAT on the room element falls away from the 29th night of a continuous stay. HMRC's guidance, updated on 27 October 2026, says a guest's departure does not end the stay if they are a long-term resident leaving for an occasional holiday, or if a retaining fee is paid. Otherwise a fresh stay starts the 28-day count again, with full VAT on its first 28 days. More in the VAT 28-day rule for contractor accommodation.

For crews posted from another EU country, a trip home does not reset the clock. Under the EU rules on social security for posted workers, a brief interruption for any reason, holidays included, does not interrupt the posting period, and once a posting has ended a new one for the same worker in the same country normally cannot start for two months. Checking the crew out does not buy you a fresh posting.

What if the crew is working through Christmas instead?

Then the problem is the opposite: finding beds in the busiest fortnight of the year. Network Rail announced on 14 October a £152m programme of Christmas works, and its engineers plan the most disruptive work for the days between Christmas and New Year, including closures at Paddington, Birmingham New Street and Redhill. In Germany, construction firms can claim seasonal short-time pay from 1 December to 31 March when weather or other unavoidable causes stop work, so a site can also go quiet at short notice in January. Either way, crews working over the break need their beds confirmed in November, not found in the week before Christmas.

Keep or release: how do the options compare?

	Keep the flat over the break	Hand it back and re-book in January
Cost over the break	About two weeks of rent for beds nobody sleeps in	Nothing for the break, but a final clean now and often a new deposit and clean at restart
January	Same flat, same address, keys in hand	A new search in the week every other crew restarts too
Paperwork	Purchase order, guest names and any local registration carry on	New booking, new purchase order, new guest details
UK hotel stays, VAT	Time away ignored for a long-term resident or if a retaining fee is paid	A new stay can restart the 28-day count, with full VAT on the first 28 days
Notice	None needed	About 30 days on most of our long stays, so decide by around 20 November

What should bookers do differently?

• Put the notice date in the diary now. Find the notice period on every stay that crosses Christmas and work back from the last working day. On 30 days' notice that is around 20 November.
• Keep by default if the same crew returns in January. Release only if the project is ending, the crew is changing, or the stay is short and the flat is easy to replace.
• Ask about a holiday rate. Some owners will take a reduced retaining fee for the empty fortnight rather than risk an empty January. Ask in November, not on 18 December.
• Tell the owner who will be in the flat. Say if it will be empty, if tools stay inside and who to call. See who pays for an empty bed.
• Plan for a late restart. If January could slip, read what happens when the project slips before you commit either way.

FAQ

Do we have to pay for the crew flat when the site is closed over Christmas?

If the stay runs through the break and you have not given notice in time, yes. Most long stays are monthly with a notice period, often 30 days.

When do we need to give notice to end a crew stay before Christmas?

On 30 days' notice, by about 20 November for a 20 December finish. Check the terms on each stay.

Does sending a posted crew home for Christmas reset the posting period?

No. Under EU rules a brief break, holidays included, does not interrupt a posting.