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Snowdonia housing: Call for new law on second homes

Getty Images Small farmstead below Cadair IdrisGetty Images
Some homes in Snowdonia have spectacular views of the national park countryside

Calls are being made so people wanting to buy a second or holiday home in Snowdonia National Park should require planning permission.

The chairman of the park's planning committee wants the Welsh Government to change the law because he claims 40% of properties sold in Gwynedd during the Covid-19 pandemic were second homes.

"This has been happening for years, but not on this rate," said Elwyn Edwards.

The Welsh Government said councils were best placed to address the issue.

Getty Images A view of Cadair Idris and DolgellauGetty Images
Nearly 26,000 people live in Snowdonia and it attracts about four million visitors a year

"I propose next month that the park asks members to support a call on the Welsh Government to change the planning law so that planning permission is required to convert a house into a second home or a holiday home," said Mr Edwards, who is also a councillor on Gwynedd council.

"Since the Covid outbreak, about 40% of all houses sold in Gwynedd have become second homes."

Mr Edwards, who intends to propose his idea in a motion to the committee, said the average local wage was about £24,000 a year in Gwynedd making it "very difficult" for first-time buyers.

"To buy in the countryside you need hundreds of thousands," he told BBC Radio Cymru.

Homes overlooking the coast at Abersoch
Abersoch in Gwynedd is well known as the "second home capital" of north Wales

About 60 campaigners who claim Gwynedd is facing a second homes "crisis" went on a march last month to highlight the issue.

When asked how the idea would work, Mr Edwards said: "The county council will know through taxes etc whether the buyer wants to convert a property into a second home.

"This can be done if the will is there."

The Welsh Government said Wales was the only UK nation where councils had the power to charge higher levels of council tax on second homes.

Gwynedd council has put a 50% premium on council tax on such properties.

"We recognise the challenges second and empty homes can present to the supply of affordable housing in some communities in Wales," said a Welsh Government spokesperson.