If the homeowner doesn’t have the rental for you on the date you asked for then he’s breaking the contract regardless whether it’s a hurricane or the government and you have every right to a full refund or credit if you prefer.
This won't be a popular answer but it's worth looking at both sides. I would guess the homeowner does actually have the rental available on the date asked for. The issue is the tenant is not able to travel to the rental. If the tenant had been somebody who lives locally and was doing a staycation, the homeowner may not have been out any revenue at all.
In our case, we amended our normal cancellation policy to allow our guests to rebook for up to a year (and we can be flexible on the time) and use 100% of their deposit. Unfortunately for us, that means if/when they stay next year we only receive 1/2 the revenue because that's the outstanding amount. Our mortgage, insurance, landscaping, etc costs do not change and the deposits will get used for those expenses this year. Utilities and housekeeping change a little but not much really. So even for homeowners who allow people to rebook, we will have a bad season this year and next year.
We have had some guests leave their deposits so they can rebook and we've had some guests who wanted a partial deposit back based on the standard cancellation policy. Everyone has different needs.
I think offering a change fee would be a good compromise. If they are unwilling to take that suggestion, I guess I'd rebook for only 50% of the original days and move somewhere else for the other half of your trip.
This issue is why U.S. hotels typically offer a discounted/pre-paid non-refundable rate. I never take them because I prefer a more flexible cancellation option.
What does everyone think? If rentals like mine offered a higher rate that was refundable would you take that rate if it was 10 or 20% more?
