Second home owners in Wales face soaring council tax bills after Labour-Plaid deal.

Good.

Excellent

This is going to get interesting over the next five years as part of their plans are to have care free at the point of delivery - if I had a second home in Wales, methinks I’d make it my main home....

This is very good news. There are places in Wales where 40% of the properties are second homes. In SW England there are areas where only 20% of homes are lived in by permanent residents. Imagine that in your street - 4 out of 5 homes standing dark and empty for most of the year.

There is a house in my street which has only been occupied for 3 weeks in the last year whilst young families who should be the future of our area can't find anywhere to rent, let alone buy, and so move away.

Second home ownership rips the heart out of a community.

Anyone interested in how this impacts people living in small rural and coastal communities should read Homesick by Catrina Davies

good

I have mixed feelings. Holiday homes bring in much needed income during summer months in retail and hospitality. They create local jobs in building and maintenance throughout the year where they need repair and renovation.
They create a diverse and interesting population at holiday times. On the other hand they put a strain on local resources such as medical facilities.
In winter they create empty villages resulting in closure of local shops, schools and other useful amenities.
We could build more affordable housing but our young people don’t stay because there are few quality jobs outside of tourism which obviously is seasonal.
I don’t know what the answer is but I don’t think it should be driving away those who want a second home and do spend locally.
My fear is the creation of resentment through some of these measures resulting in bad feeling between locals and visitors.
Wales needs tourists, many don’t buy second homes but many do and we need both.

It’s the same here in the Southwest. Locals absolutely priced out of buying a property… my son being one of them

I was thinking about this and wondering what to post but LauraNorderr has expressed much what I wanted to say.

I do remember friends from London buying a tumbledown old isolated cottage which had been for sale for a very long time and renovating it sympathetically as a holiday home for them and to let out, bringing income to that area.

My fear is the creation of resentment through some of these measures resulting in bad feeling between locals and visitors.

This was at a time when holiday homes in Wales were being burnt down and I thought they were taking a risk but theirs was fine as far as I know.

In some areas of Cornwall villages are deserted much of the time, second home owners don't use local shops etc and I can see why resentment can creep in.

There is a need for a balance in the decision making.

We've had a huge influx of commuters from England buying homes in Wales too which has pushed up prices on the borders, pricing younger people out too.

Paying more won’t stop people buying second homes though LauraNorderr, but what it will do is ensure they pay more for the privilege of owning them instead of paying reduced rates, and make sure that coastal towns and villages don’t die on their feet because such a high percentage of houses are second homes.

The argument about holidaymakers staying in holiday homes is weak, even if people do not arrive with their wine and food deliveries ordered, what is spent over a few weeks cannot possibly be as much as a fully resident family. The implication for a small town are very serious, less children means schools closing, fewer families means cuts in social spending on schools, surgeries, hospitals. I congratulate the Welsh authorities on their brave stance

Excellent idea, now do it in Cornwall.

Oopsadaisy1

Excellent idea, now do it in Cornwall.

And Devon!

Building on what GillT57 said there is also a decline in service for local people. Holiday home owners don't need an optician, dentist, vet etc. These businesses become unviable and close and locals, often elderly, are forced to travel further for essential services. This is made more difficult as buses only operate during the summer...less residents mean they are unprofitable and don't run out of season.

And the lake district

Brilliant hope it spreads to the rest of the UK . Having two homes is immoral.

At last , so pleased

As I said previously I have mixed feelings.
I do notice that those who live in the most beautiful areas of Britain are most vocal. I do agree with much of what has been said but
Do we own these areas just because we live in them?
Do we have a right to make owning a second home in a beautiful part of the country difficult financially for someone who is forced to live in a big city to keep the wheels turning for us?
Perhaps a doctor or a nurse working in a big city hospital, replacing our hips or putting our family members back together after a bad accident, horrendous stress. Don’t they deserve to own a little bolt hole in paradise?
Maybe a factory worker sitting at a workbench day in day out making our favourite cheese or bottling our favourite ketchup. Are they destined to spend all but two weeks in their built up city apartment or house? Why shouldn’t they own a bit of what we have all year round.
While I agree that being asked to pay a bit more in rates won’t stop some, it may well stop the many.
I don’t get this idea that we all own the place we live in. We are certainly privileged but not entitled.
More investment in decent high end jobs might encourage young people to stay which would create more of a balance.

Coastpath

Building on what GillT57 said there is also a decline in service for local people. Holiday home owners don't need an optician, dentist, vet etc. These businesses become unviable and close and locals, often elderly, are forced to travel further for essential services. This is made more difficult as buses only operate during the summer...less residents mean they are unprofitable and don't run out of season.

Yes! This happens in villages around the town where I live. In summer they are bustling. The locals can't get parked, tables in restaurants are rare as hens' teeth, every shop is packed, so you can't just pop in for a loaf of bread without standing in a 10 minute queue, but at least the economy thrives.

In winter, the local shop is only open for an hour a day, so if you run out of bread you have to drive to a supermarket miles away (if you have a car), pubs close at 9.00pm and the place is like a ghost town. Most houses are empty, and people can be a bit scared of being alone, which causes problems with mental health.

Schools closed years ago, the bus service stopped not long after, so there are few families and older people who can't drive to a doctor, chemist of Post Office move out too - the village ones moved on when it wasn't worth being there. Holidaymakers don't need services like that, and villagers don't need postcards and seaside rock. Young people leave as soon as they can, and can't afford to come back when they have families.

In my city, 30 miles from the villages there are whole streets of student accommodation. Not the purpose-built type, but larger terraced houses that used to be ideal for families. They house 6 students each, but none of them pay council tax, despite getting bins emptied etc. The council is already on a shoestring budget thanks to cuts, so services for everyone drop, and families are driven out.

In both cases, the only winners are the landlords who rent out the holiday homes and student houses. I would tax both types of landlord - and don't get me started about Air B&B!

I don't think we own our area but we do have the right to take steps to keep it a vibrant, alive and thriving community all year round for people who have lived here all there lives or who have given up everything else to make a home here.

A bolthole in paradise to the detriment of the people who live around it is no paradise.

I work hard in my little bit of paradise and pay tax the same as a city dweller. Sometimes I wouldn't mind a little pied a terre in the city. I wouldn't want one if it meant I was taking a home from a young nurse who wanted a home for her family near a hospital and so, when I go to the city I stay in a hotel or with friends or family.

I could not agree more with your final point about investment LauraNorderr

I don’t recollect saying that “ I own the place I live in” and I am vocal on behalf of my son who works very hard as a bricklayer out in all weathers and has a good deposit but is practically in tears sometimes because he has no hope at the moment of buying a property in the place he grew up and loves. Estate agents now don’t even bother getting back to him when he puts an offer in and it is soul destroying for him and other local people

LauraNorderr I agree that it is unfair to rent or sell only to 'locals', for the reasons you describe. It's great to have ring-fenced social housing if you live in Fabulous-by-the- Sea; but less so if you live in the Grim Estate in Grottsville.

I'm not talking about that (although it does happen - my sister works in Housing, and there are areas where only those with immediate family are even considered for rent), but about the principle of people owning homes they don't live in.

Agreed, Coastpath. And with you, Shinamae.

A friend of ours has a second home in South Wales it is in a hamlet in a beautiful part of the country. It was almost derelict when they bought it having been owned by an old lady for years but now they live in it almost half the year. The rest of the time, it is let out or lent to family members. The village had no bus service when they bought the house and still doesn't

I think that illustrates Laura's point quite .

I'm now getting adverts for new homes on GN.