‘ONE OF THE BEST THINGS THE COUNCIL HAS DONE IN YEARS’
UNANIMOUS BACKING FOR £77M PLAN TO TACKLE HOUSING CRISIS
A£77MILLION plan to build 1,500 affordable homes won unanimous backing by councillors looking to tackle a county’s “housing crisis”.
Gwynedd Council wants to build hundreds of properties by 2027 and it plans to partially fund its “Housing Action Plan” by hiking taxes on second homes by as much as 100%.
That would leave holiday-home owners paying double the amount of local residents, if the plans which are out to consultation are approved.
Meanwhile, the cabinet also moved to present the Welsh Government with the finding sofa councilcommissioned research paper which require changes to national planning and taxation legislation.
According to the paper 60%, of locals are priced out by the housing market – with 6,849 or 10.77% of the country’s entire housing stock now being designated as second homes.
The council wants to introduce a licensing system for AirBnBs and restrictions on the building and transfer of second homes and close a loophole that allows secondhome owners to avoid paying any council tax at all if let out for enough days in a calendar year.
Craig ab Iago, the portfolio holder for housing, hailed the plan as one of the “best things the council has done in years”.
The affordable homes would be paid for by £22.9m from the secondhome council tax premium as well as grants and £15.4m worth of loans.
He hoped work could begin as soon as next year: “Our young people face a greater challenge than ever to find a suitable home locally. Put simply, it is a crisis and I’m determined to see us delivering a real change. I am therefore extremely proud of this plan, which not only shows Gwynedd Council’s vision for the future of housing in the county, but more importantly, that we have definite plans to implement that vision.”
It has an aim of securing an additional 500 affordable homes including the construction of 100 new houses to be sold or let to locals.
Also, 250 loans would be offered to first-time buyers while delivering more than 600 new social homes including buying in 72 former council houses to rent and extending a grant scheme to bring another 250 empty houses back into use.
It would also see investment into environmentally friendly homes and developing 150 living units for homeless people and 130 new units for some of the county’s most vulnerable.
The council receives between 80 and 90 homelessness submissions each month.
Cllr Nia Jeffreys added: “We have long known and experienced first hand in Porthmadog the crisis in housing – however, that so many local people are priced out of the market is shocking.
“I have the utmost respect for the First Minister of Wales but he has a blind spot on this issue.
“There is clear evidence that the ‘second-home loophole’ benefits rich people with second homes and severely disadvantages the vast majority of people in Gwynedd who struggle to afford one house.
“I hope this detailed, factual and evidencebased report persuades him to act urgently to close this loophole.”
In response, Housing Minister Julie James confirmed that week that she plans to make a statement to the Senedd in January outlining how the Government intends to act on the issue of housing in rural and tourist areas.