Daily Mail labels second home restrictions ‘anti-English attack’
The Daily Mail has claimed that second-home owners are slashing thousands from the asking price of their Welsh holiday cottages in an effort to escape ‘anti-English’ tax hikes.
Councils in Wales have been able to charge a second home premium of up to 300% since April 2023, but the article also claims that ‘the Welsh government has given councils the right to impose council tax bills four times higher than normal on second homes in a bid to stop locals being priced out’ referring to a UK-wide policy for homes that have been empty for over ten years.
This, they say, has left second-homers in ‘the popular coastal county of Gwynedd’ in a race to sell after prices plummeted 12 per cent in a year.
According to the article, Welsh tourist bosses have warned that the policy will decimate local jobs market but the local council has now introduced another deterrent, requiring owners to apply for planning permission if they want to use a house as a holiday let.
‘Plight’
The article highlights the ‘plight’ of grandfather Tom Williams from Lancashire who has reduced his three bedroom property in Morfa Nefyn, Pwllheli by £40,000 “as he joins an exodus of English owners”.
He told the BBC: “I put it down to all the other properties in the village that are up for sale at the moment.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of families who have had homes there for generations and they’re saying the same thing – how can we carry on with this?
“I have four grandchildren who had a wonderful time there every summer and it’s been great, we’ve loved it.”
“Policy is working”
Gwynedd currently has one of the highest rates of second home ownership in the UK
There has been an increase in the number of second homes turning back into main homes in Gwynedd – according to a new report.
Research presented in a Cyngor Gwyndd report on the impact of recent changes to council tax premiums – used as tool to help address housing issues in the county – found they were “working”.
Research detailed in the report stated: “In terms of properties moving between being a second home and being a primary residence, there has usually been a (net) flow of properties from main residences to second homes.
“But the net flow was the other way (i.e. from second homes to main residences) in the run-up to the premium increase to 100% in April 2021, and (more decisively and more long-lasting) before and after the premium increase to 150% in April 2023 that this flow has grown so that the number of second homes is now stable (i.e. this flow is around the same as the flow of second homes to main residences).”
Cllr Rowlinson said: “There are now more second homes turning back to main residences, so it appears the policy is working.”
Affordable housing
During the meeting, Cllr Rowlinson had also quoted from Welsh Government guidelines, saying that the power to increase the premium had been “a resource to bring long term empty dwellings back into use and to help local authorities increase the supply of affordable housing and make local communities more sustainable”.
The measures were used as “a tool in our housing policy not a way to make revenue,” he said.
Also referring to Article 4 – introduced in September – he said it was an “important tool” that restricted the ability to change the use of a property from a main residence into a second home without planning permission.
“We can set a policy which refuses permission in areas where it is difficult for people to find homes, due to the pressure of the numbers of second homes.” he said.
But, he added: “Article 4 only came in three months ago. I think more time is needed to assess the impact yet, before we change anything else.
“It is worth remembering, if we do need to raise the council tax significantly this year, which is looking likely, the premiums would increase automatically.”
His report explained that for the financial years, 2023/24 and 2024/25, the council had already raised a council tax premium of 150% on second homes and 100% on long-term empty dwellings, but legislation allowed the Council to charge a premium of up to 300%.
“Anti-English”
Ashford Price, chairman of the National Show Caves Centre for Wales previously warned of the ‘serious economic damage’ of the council tax charges and branded them an ‘anti-English’ move.
The Welsh Tourism Alliance has warned that the move would backfire, saying: “As a tool to bring properties back into a market which is affordable to local people, it will not work.
“Rather, it will reduce local owners’ ability to earn an income and cause a decline in secondary jobs in hospitality, retail, house maintenance and cleaning.
“It will not safeguard the Welsh language as these businesses will be lost to wealthier outsiders prepared to meet the higher costs of having a second home or self-catering businesses in Wales.”
Property Act
Cymdeithas yr Iaith has long campaigned for the right for Wales’ young to live in their communities. They say: “The entire housing system must be transformed to put local needs before profit and to treat houses as social assets for the benefit of all.
“The campaign for a Property Act is nothing less than a campaign for the future of all the communities of Wales, be they Welsh-speaking, English-speaking or multicultural.
“We call on the Welsh Government to take urgent steps to deal with the housing crisis and safeguard the future of our local communities by passing a progressive Property Act during this government term.”
“Adequate housing should be a right for everyone, not a privilege for the wealthy. A Property Act would be another link in the chain towards creating a fairer, better Wales.”
Also at the rally, Mabon ap Gwynfor, the local Member of the Senedd and his party’s spokesperson on housing, said: “My inbox is full of teachers, teaching assistants, nurses who cannot afford houses to live in the communities where they work.
“That is the crisis we are living through, and why today and a Property Act are so important. Everyone should have the right to live in a house that meets their physical needs, that meets their economic needs, that meets their cultural needs.”
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When the ‘Daily Fail ‘ condemns the policy , then you know it’s a good policy
Coming from the Daily Mail like the Daily Torygraph they are ANTI WELSHthey like to give it but do not like it back
Its also done in Yorkshire are they Anti English just the Daily Fail stirring the POOOOOO
Exactly. If it IS ‘anti English’ then it is anti English anywhere.
I know Welsh people who have 2nd homes. However there are many specific discriminations that are anti Welsh in existence. To name 2, the withholding of Crown Estate funding and the poorer Barnett settlement both in comparison with the Scottish reality
I now support this even more. Good work Wales.
There is nothing in the legislation that stops the English grandfather from selling up in Lancashire and making Morfa Nefyn his main residence. But, of course, he does not want to do that, because his life is in Lancashire, Morfa Nefyn is a nice to have luxury. From the sound of the article the property has been a second home for decades, so he has reduced the price by £40K, so what, it is all pure profit to such people. If only the Daily Mail cared about people trying to live a normal life in Gwynedd or Manchester, paying obscene… Read more »
daily mail, former supporters of a fascist dictator and now taking up the mantle again and also attack UK judges ruling on British law.
How is Rothermere doing?
Says one mouthpiece of an Empire which is institutionally ANTI WELSH.
At last something is being done about 2nd homes and holiday homes whoever owns them. They are a blight on the landscape of housing in Wales where so many cannot even afford to buy or rent a main home.
I am Welsh and live here. If I bought a second home in Wales I would be subject to exactly the same tax. What have you got to say about that Daily Mail?
Very good point. The Fail would either say nothing or they would say we are all English until they want to abuse us at which point, we’re Welsh.
A typical racist trope from the Mail that only people from England have second homes in Wales because the locals are too impoverished and backwards to do the same.
I’m yet to meet a non holiday home owner who doesn’t support this.
It’s not just house prices that have been affected. Family member in Ynys Mon rented out 2 bed house. Before it was even advertised, the agent had 8 people waiting for a property. There is a dire shortage of rental properties as obviously owners see holiday homes as better source of income
Oh dear. How sad. Never mind.
A popular argument against the policy, and mentioned in the article, is that these second home owners spend lots of money in Wales. The fact that they are selling up rather than paying 50% more council tax suggests the opposite doesn’t it?