Do you feel sorry for them?

Just clicked on the update link to donate/enquire. Scrolled down to comments. Interesting!!

It sounds from the comments after the article that they own a B&B near the airport - is it the one they say they spend two nights a week at? If that is true, they have got themselves some free publicity.

I see the donations fund has now been closed, having raised over £9,000.

There's something very odd about this case.

thesteepletimes.com/editorial/wrong-lane/

Sometimes you just want to give people a good shake! Many of the alternatives have been mentioned already but with all that time on their hands (and a considerable income) you'd think they would have come up with a plan! Sounded a bit fishy to me - I also wondered how the DM got the story.

As Alice might say "curiouser and curiouser!" Having read the comments on Ana's link there is a hmmm! sort of quality about their predicament ........ I really think they could be renting a room or even an unfurnished studio flat with their income and dispensed with the storage fee for their furniture by just getting rid of most of it. Then they could have applied for any benefits they would be eligible for. When they did have a period of renting instead of buying, which they still could have done, after they sold their house, they appear to have frittered away a substantial amount of money during a relatively short period of time.

Judging from the comments in DM it appears the owners of the B&B 'coincidentally' have the same names as this couple.....
Distinctly fishy me thinks...

All publicity is good publicity. I wonder if their room occupancy shoots up as people want to see this weird couple?

Thanks for the link Ana made for interesting reading very iffy indeed,whilst I feel sorry for people who find themselves in this kind of situation these two have not made any attempt to help themselves.There must be loads of Housing Associons across the Country willing to offer them property within their "Over 55s" properties but it seems that the thought of that is beneath them and they expect far grander properties.

Sussed!

What a pair of con artists.

I hope they have enough shame to donate this £9,000 or whatever is raised, to a charity who look after the genuine homeless.
And the Daily Mail should match that sum with a donation of their own.

Don't want to come across as sounding bitchy but as Rosequartz pointed out the lady in question looked amazingly well groomed for lodging in an airport. The first thing I noticed before I even read the article in depth was her manicured nails...though maybe she had so much time on her hands(no pun intended) that she could look immaculate. I spent several unintended hours at Stansted after Christmas due to a missed flight, and I looked like a bag lady

I'm sure the DM sussed there was plenty of mileage in this story. It reminds me of the man who faked his death by drowning in a canoe so his wife could claim the insurance money.

The truth will out!

I was also puzzled when they said they went to a B&B twice a week so they could wash their clothes.

We've stayed in a fair few B&Bs in our time but I'm not sure what the reaction would be if I asked to use the washing machine.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/homeless-heathrow-couple-who-live-5126081

How come there is a couple called Katrina and Alan running a B&B at Heathrow Cottages?

Doppelgangers or just a coincidence?

Perhaps I should ask Katrina for a few tips on how to look so immaculate after hours at an airport. Even after a shower at HKIA where we have to spend 7 hours occasionally I still look a mess!

Interesting!

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/FAQ_Answers-g528817-d1547477-t381362-Hi_What_advice_would_you_give_if_I_wanted_to.html

Alan runs a website on' How to Make a Story go viral' Well that is certainly successful.

Why do I get the impression there is something we have not been told?

"Although they have a modest income of approximately £1,400 a month, £300 is spent on paying for storage for their furniture and £485 goes towards a £20,000 bank loan they took out in 2011 to try to keep afloat. This leaves them just over £600 a month to live on."

Have they filed for bankcrupcy? This is ridiculous. They should move to a less expensive town and rent a small terrace house or find a residential caravan site or such.

I'm puzzled as to why the DM gave this story such extensive coverage. They must have known that many people would be sceptical about the couple's claims to be 'homeless'.

I get the feeling there's something else going on here...

Surely the Daily Mail is not that gullible?

Oh, well, perhaps ......

That's what I mean - it may be many things, but naive and gullible it isn't. There must be another agenda.

Perhaps we should bombard the DM with angry emails and ask them to make a donation to a charity for the homeless!

If it is a scam then I'm disgusted. Donations certainly shouldn't be going to them; I would imagine there will be a number of angry donors.
DM possibly knew about their true situation and, as usual, sensationalism sells papers.
No wonder a journalist friend says their commonly known as the Daily 'Hate' Mail.....

If this is a scam then a national newspaper had to be involved or the story would never have got off the ground. I still think it's more than a coincidence that 'Gofundme' has hit the headlines so soon after the heartwarming fundraising for the disabled pensioner. Maybe this couple thought they could jump on the bandwagon while emotions were still running high.

If the DM hadn't run with it then I'm sure another newspaper would have been approached.

I agree, merlot, that's what I meant by the DM not being that gullible.

Maybe they were trying to make a point about the randomness of some of these 'Gofundme' pleas.

Incidentally, when I used to buy Private Eye regularly, there were always requests for money in the personal ads section - for anything from buying a farm to funding university fees or paying off loans...

There are far more deserving causes than this incompetent / fly couple!

I gather the person who set up the fund raising page has now shut it down.