Do you feel sorry for them?

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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

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...

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.

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.

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/

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.

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

My DH was self employed for most of our married life so we never had a set amount coming in every month, so we learned to budget, only bought things when we had the money to pay in full and the only debt we every had was a mortgage.

I feel this couple were like many, spending everything and never making provision for rainy days. As I said before, I do feel sorry for them being homeless. I gather someone has offered them accommodation for a month and the money collected for them is now over £5,000 but I do hope they also receive some advice on budgeting.

Well exactly! Taking out another mortgage at their age was complete madness. Financial problems can happen to anyone of us, but for goodness sake, by borrowing from Peter to pay Paul just exacerbate's an already serious situation! Drawing in of horns and cutting your coat etc is the only way for peace of mind. I can't help it, but I detect a scam here!

People do live in aiports. There was a film starring Tom Hanks about someone who lived in Charles de Gaulle for years (I think).
However, I think he was stateless as far as I recall.

She certainly looks more immaculate than I do when I have spent time in an airport!
Perhaps they are hoping to sell the film rights.

I would be embarrassed to publicise my failings in this way.

Terribull that's a very good point. Why didn't they simply buy a property outright when they had £200,000 equity? When we sold our house and moved a couple of hundred miles south we did just that. I'd never even have considered taking out a mortgage at that age when I had the cash to buy.

There is a lot to be said for the 'look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves' approach to life.

After reading the comments I can see that many GNs also share this philosophy. Our DS also quote it back to us!

We have never put our 'all and beyond' into a property buy. We may not live in a mansion, but what it is, is ours! x

I can't understand how these two have been able to live at Heathrow for so long, if indeed they have! Surely the Airport Police would have noticed them wandering and sitting about 24/7 and approached them to ascertain what the were up to?! What about health care, particularly at their age? What about laundry?! what about post?!! If they have slipped under the radar of Heathrow airport, then I would think that the authorities there, in these days of terrorism, need to have a very serious look at security, these people could be anybody, from anywhere, planning anything!! It's just a thought!!!!

I do feel sorry for anyone who is homeless. I don't think they are dealing it with very well or even halfway efficiently. I also don't think people should live in airports, even Tom Hanks.

To start out with that sort of property to sell and yet to end up with nothing takes a rare sort of talent!Why on earth didn't they build up decent savings when they were earning good money? Presumably it all went into the house. A visit to CAB or an hour with a solicitor when it first started to go pear shaped might have made all the difference.

I've just had a look at this story everyone is talking about, I do feel sorry for them in the same way I feel sorry for anyone who is homeless.

I know Bournemouth very well we have a timeshare there. I can't understand when they had to downsize from the house why they didn't just put all the equity £200,000 into a property without getting a mortgage, believe me you can get reasonable properties for that sort of money NOW, so I am sure they would have been around a few years ago. Greater Bournemouth is a large sprawling area that encompasses Christchurch, Southbourne, Boscome, Bournemouth, Westbourne and eventually merges with Poole there is a lot of it with many varied properties. There are a couple of very upmarket areas such as Canford Cliffs and Sandbanks, perhaps the wife could have done a mail shot through letterboxes targeting those places where she may have found families who would be pleased to have a trained nanny for child minding, say after school, I think she may have been more successful following that route than applying to nurseries who I imagine employ very young staff.

The airport staff are certainly going to be aware of them now so they have taken a bit of a gamble, but I'm thinking that they get some help through this article to get back on their feet.

Oh and we sold or gave all our stuff away. Very liberating. I kept one suitcase full of sentimental objects, the rest of my "stuff" I "visit" when I visit family in South Africa

nigglynellie You are a woman after my own heart.

When we moved to the UK from South Africa 14 years ago, we took a huge financial knock. We sold our home in SA (2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, granny flat, big garden) and rented a tiny studio flat in London for the first 18 months whilst we found our feet. We were very happy there and had lots of laughs, felt like students. It was an "annexe" to a big house and our landlady who lived in the house was completely mystified by us, I think.

From there we moved into a one bedroomed flat and subsequently bought the house that we still live in now, "ex local authority" and we are very happy here too. During all the time that we rebuilt our lives, we wouldn't have dreamt of asking anyone for help. Nor did we ever apply for any benefits. My husband couldn't find work immediately, but I went into a recruitment agency still dragging my suitcase when we came off the plane (I'm not joking) and I supported us both on temp jobs for the first I don't know how many months.

Normally Soutra, I wouldn't wish this particular definition, but in this case I find I'm thinking exactly the same!!!!!

Absolutely not and how low can one stoop ? to ask the public to fund them. I have noticed several postings on FB asking for help in funding lifestyle or " artistic talent ". Do people have no shame ?