A report presented to Gwynedd Council’s Cabinet next week will recommend that the Welsh Government urgently adopts and implements the most effective recommendations of the “Second Homes – Developing New Policies in Wales” report, with modifications to one of the recommendations.
It is the Council’s intention, following Cabinet approval, to respond formally to Dr Simon Brooks’ government-commissioned report.
Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, Leader of Gwynedd Council, said: “With 11% of the county’s housing stock being second homes, the highest percentage in Wales, a significant number of our residents are facing a situation where they cannot afford to buy a home within their local community.
“We believe this is unjust. Gwynedd Council’s clear and firm desire is to ensure that every possible measure is used to try to respond to the housing crisis facing the county’s residents in their communities today.
“It is clear that the increase in the numbers of second homes in our communities is making a significant contribution to pushing house prices beyond the reach of local residents and it is our priority to do everything within our power to respond to the situation here.
“There is one recommendation in the report that we do not support as it is, and in our formal response we will request that the Welsh Government modifies its recommendation to ‘consult on the possibility of making short-term holiday accommodation exempt from being eligible for small business rates relief’ and amend it so that second homes are taxed as a ‘house’, regardless of use.
“What the Welsh Government is proposing won’t prevent second homes from ‘flipping’, so we will continue to be in a position where some second homes pay less taxes and do not pay the Council tax premium at all, which we reinvest in local housing issues.
“We believe this is depriving the people of Gwynedd and we feel strongly that second homes need to be prevented from converting to the non-domestic rates system.”
Gwynedd Council has already taken the lead on the challenge of trying to control the numbers of second homes. In December 2020, the Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Planning Policy Service published detailed research into the situation and made clear policy recommendations that would address the increase in the number of second homes. Four of these six recommendations are included in Dr Simon Brooks’ recommendations.
Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn noted: “The Cabinet discussed the comprehensive research at its meeting on 15 December 2020, and agreed on three urgent actions that were urgently needed which are beyond our powers as a Council. Since then, we have written to the First Minister calling for the change and it is pleasing to see our research paper frequently referenced in Dr Brooks’ report.”
Those three requirements were:
- Amend Section 66 of the Local Government Finance Act so that any house is defined as a dwelling for taxation purposes, thereby paying Council Tax and any appropriate premium.
- Amend the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order to include an additional use class for short-term holiday accommodation.
- The introduction of a mandatory licensing scheme for short-term holiday accommodation which would be the responsibility of the Local Authority.
The Council has also recently taken action to increase opportunities for local people to live in their communities by adopting a new local lettings policy for social housing and increasing the council tax premium to a maximum of 100% on second homes. The Council uses all of this premium (plus £15 million from the Council’s own funding and borrowing a further £15 million) to fund a programme of projects to ensure that the people of Gwynedd have access to suitable and affordable homes in their local community.
Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn added: “We believe that we have now achieved everything that is within our current Local Authority power, but it is clear that action beyond this power will be necessary if we are to fully respond to the threat and to enable our local residents to live in their communities.
“Early implementation of the recommendations highlighted in the Welsh Government’s report “Second Homes – Developing New Policies in Wales” is absolutely essential and we as a Council therefore urgently request that the Welsh Government to adopt them with the modifications proposed to recommendation 7.”
According to the Anglesey and Gwynedd Joint Planning Policy Service’s “Managing the Use of Dwellings as Holiday Homes” research, nearly 60% of local people are priced out of the housing market in the county; Gwynedd has the highest percentage of holiday homes in Wales and 6,849 or 11% of Gwynedd’s housing stock is holiday homes or second homes compared to the Welsh average of 2.56%.
The Cabinet will consider the report at its meeting on 15 June.
