House prices: Wales to help Cornwall tackle its housing crisis

A new shared learning agreement between Wales and Cornwall is hoped to help tackle the Cornish housing crisis.

From April this year Welsh councils can set council tax premiums at 300% for second homes to help free up housing stock for locals.

Second homes will be top of the agenda for focus groups set up as part of the contract.

The leader of Cornwall council said housing was a "real issue" in both regions.

Wales and Cornwall have some spectacular scenery which are a magnet for tourists and second home owners.

But its attraction is also causing problems.

A lack of affordable housing and second homes is hitting both areas and it's not just the seaside or rural villages.

The Welsh government has said it wants to "develop a fairer housing market", and that new tax changes were designed to both ensure owners made a fair contribution to communities and to show whether properties were being let regularly.

In Cornwall there are over 13,000 holiday homes, and leaders are looking closely at what's happening in Wales.

Leader of Cornwall council Linda Taylor says virtual meetings are planned and housing is a priority issue.

"The agreement will focus on four key areas including sustainable housing, achieving net zero, thriving rural economies and celebrating culture and language and net zero," she said.

One of the first focus groups will focus on housing which, Ms Taylor said "is a benefit but also a real issue in both Wales and Cornwall".

"For us in Cornwall, and I think it is the same in Wales, we have coastal areas which I call hotspots where communities have changed considerably because of second homes," she said.

"We realise second homes are incredibly important to our economy, but we need to look at getting the balance of communities right.

"It's not a good thing to walk around a coastal town in the winter and see around 50% of the properties there never having a light on in the window.

"It has an impact on the economy during the winter because shops need all year round trade, and we are starting to see a bit of an impact on our school numbers."

In the former Cornish industrial town of Camborne its tin industry and engineering were once key employers, but its mines and factories are now closed.

And until recent times houses were slightly cheaper here than the rest of Cornwall, but now estate agent windows are showing prices creeping up.

Ieuan Harries, who has lived in Camborne for 40 years after moving from Pembrokeshire, said he saw similar problems shared between his current home and his previous home.

"House prices are ridiculously high now," he said.

"I am worried about second homes and the lack of housing for local people."

Mr Harries said he was unsure whether the new contract with Wales will help the situation.

"Nobody has heard about it, which is a shame really. We'll see what comes out of it."

Pol Hodge, who holds the ceremonial role of grand bard of Cornwall, said he felt "very angry about the second home situation".

"We look to Wales where there is a 300% charge, whereas we look at here and it is just like the wild west," he said.

"Because the tourist industry is more focused around our coastal areas it has decimated our coastal communities.

"We have a housing crisis where a lot of our young people have got nowhere to live."

Councillor Dick Cole, leader of political party Mebyon Kernow, said more powers are needed to help redress the balance.

"The problem we have is that central government tends to treat Cornwall like another English county, and is not delivering things like devolution and the democratic change that we would like to see," he said. 

First Minister Mark Drakeford said: "I look forward to working more closely together, building on our strong relationship, sharing best practice and exploring other areas we can work together on in the future."