Second homes: Man fears house prices could ruin community

A volunteer firefighter who lost his home when his landlord sold up fears for the future of his community.

Shane Ryan said he was unable to afford to buy a home and had to move back in with his parents in Aberdovey, Gwynedd, to be near the station.

It comes as campaigners say they could to take the Welsh government to court unless they limit holiday homes.

The Welsh government said it wanted people to be able to live and work in their communities.

In recent months, campaigners have called for action over growing concerns about rising house prices in seaside and rural communities, amid fears second home owners are pricing out locals.

The Welsh Housing Justice Charter campaign group said it regularly received calls from nurses, teachers, firefighters and those working on lifeboats who could not afford to live near where they work and volunteer.

Future generations commissioner, Sophie Howe, said she was concerned about the effect of holiday homes on communities.

Mr Ryan thinks the only way his son, Bobby, two, will ever afford a house in the Snowdonia seaside village is if he wins the lottery.

His family would have left if volunteer firefighters did not have to live within 10 minutes of their stations.

"Within the last year or so I think house prices here have gone up by 18%," said Mr Ryan, a chef by trade.

"Every year you're thinking you're saving up enough money to buy a house, but really you're not, you're taking one step forward and two steps backwards."

The 36-year-old fears that one day there will be no fire station, because the workers would not be able to live nearby.

"If you can't get any firefighters and you have nobody to fill boots then it will close down," he said.

"That's the worrying thing and I'm not sure if the community know about that... if I was to leave then it would make the service here extremely short."

At the same time they lost their home last year, his girlfriend, Hazel, lost her hospitality job because of the pandemic.

Mr Ryan said he applied for council housing and looked at renting privately, but there were not enough properties.

"It's not just me and my partner, this happens over and over again because people just can't afford to live here," he said.

Prices have been fuelled by those wanting to move to Wales, or buy second homes or holiday lets.

Estate agents said landlords in places such as Aberdovey knew they could make a month's rent in a week if they let to holidaymakers instead of locals.

Mr Ryan's family are not alone.

"Recently we got married, we got a dog, and now we'd like to start a family," said Tom Coombe.

"There's a lot of competition among the locals and a lot of hunger from outside too, from people with much deeper pockets than us.

"People who can come and outbid us straight away."

The Outward Bound Trust instructor admitted it was hard to see friends being forced from rented homes.

"It really pulls on your heart strings," Mr Coombe said.

"Without some sort of intervention, I'm just not sure where this will go," he said.

Minna Elster Jones, from St Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire, said she and her friends were concerned about the "big threat".

"I won't be able to afford anything here and it used to be that I wanted to live here so badly," she said.

The 16-year-old wants to stay in a Welsh language community, but said that was becoming harder.

Welsh Housing Justice Charter spokesman, Cris Tomos, said: "Our plea to politicians, ministers and the commissioner of the Future Generations Act is to look at how we can ensure people can live in rural and coastal areas - so we actually have generations continuing here for the future."

Campaigners are calling for Ms Howe to fight for children who could face having to move from hometowns they cannot afford to live in.

She said: "I've already written to the first minister and to the housing minister to raise the concerns I'm hearing from communities and to call for urgent action."

She is worried how quickly new powers to act on second homes and holiday lets could take.

"If we don't act quickly some of these communities will be damaged for a long time to come," she added.

Rhys Jordan, of estate agent Purple Bricks, in Pembrokeshire, said stamp duty relief meant people could stretch their budget further in Wales.

He said: "We've sold a lot of properties to people who aren't necessarily what you would deem as local, but I would say 90% of everything we've sold are people who are coming to live as a main resident in these areas, and to give back to these communities."

Mr Jordan said many landlords were now offering their properties as holiday lets because at some points in the year they could make in a week what would otherwise take a month.

The Welsh government said Wales was the only UK nation to give councils discretionary powers to charge a council tax premium on long-term empty properties and second homes.

"We've also increased the higher rate of land transaction tax, which applies when people buy an additional property," a spokesman said.

"We are currently consulting on further options for local taxes on second homes and self-catering accommodation and looking at what further interventions are available to us."