Gwynedd home costs plunge as council acts on second properties | EUROtoday

House costs in a county the place the council has launched measures to crack down on second properties have fallen by greater than 12% year-on-year, in response to new figures.

The native authority in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, not too long ago launched a requirement to acquire planning permission to show residential properties into second properties or vacation lets.

It can be considered one of various Welsh councils which fees a 150% council tax premium on such properties, having upped this from 100% in 2023.

The council, Cyngor Gwynedd, stated its goal was to “increase the availability of high-quality, affordable homes for local people”.

The fall in worth represents the largest annual drop of any area within the Principality Building Society’s Wales House Price Indexmasking residential property gross sales within the closing three months of 2024.

The common home value in Wales has remained broadly flat year-on-year and is now £233,194, in response to the constructing society.

Tom Williams and his household, who reside in Lancashire, are struggling to promote the second residence they personal in Morfa Nefyn, Gwynedd.

“I have four grandchildren who had a wonderful time there every summer and it’s been great, we’ve loved it,” stated Mr Williams, who has owned the home for 20 years.

Mr Williams and his spouse put the home in the marketplace in April 2024 however stated that they had had little curiosity from potential consumers, regardless of dropping the worth by £40,000.

“I put it down to all the other properties in the village that are up for sale at the moment,” he stated.

Mr Williams believes a few of the interventions by the council have prompted lots of people to promote, whereas additionally pushing aside potential consumers.

Cyngor Gwynedd has been making an attempt to deal with the scarcity of housing for native individuals in vacationer areas and has greater than doubled the council tax cost on second and vacation properties.

The council additionally not too long ago launched Article 4which requires property house owners to acquire planning permission to show residential properties into second or vacation properties.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of families who have had homes there for generations and they’re saying the same thing – how can we carry on with this?” stated Mr Williams.

North Wales property agent Dafydd Hardy described the housing market in Gwynedd as “mixed”, with native interventions on second properties resulting in “more properties coming on to the market”.

But he stated the worth of a second residence was typically “outside the affordability of the local purchaser”.

“What we need to see is balance in the market,” he stated, together with “more house building as far as first-time buyers are concerned”.

The new figures are primarily based on seasonally-adjusted knowledge from the Land Registry, however lots of various factors can have an effect on the image that knowledge finally ends up portray.

Factors comparable to rates of interest, regional job alternatives, interventions within the native housing market by a council and even the variety of transactions can all have an effect on home costs.

It means there may be some uncertainty about what induced the drop in costs in Gwynedd within the 12 months to December.

Pembrokeshire noticed the second largest annual fall in costs at 8.9%.

The council there not too long ago voted to cut back the council tax premium on second properties from 200% to 150%.

By comparability, Carmarthenshire noticed the largest year-on-year enhance in home costs at 9.2%.

The council there may be introducing a council tax premium of 100% on second properties from April.

Iain Mansfield of the Principality Building Society stated the housing market throughout Wales had proven “resilience” over the previous 12 months.

Sales had been up by 28% year-on-year, which Mr Mansfield stated demonstrated “greater consumer confidence” with decrease rates of interest making mortgages extra reasonably priced.

“I think we’re seeing a more positive outlook for those people who want to buy a house in 2025,” stated Mr Mansfield.

Mr Mansfield stated the “sizeable” drop in costs in Gwynedd over the previous 12 months was mirrored in “some of the other coastal areas in Wales”.

He stated the drop may “potentially” be defined by “some of the interventions that have been made in the area around second home ownership”.

Cyngor Gwynedd stated “over 65% of Gwynedd’s population was priced out of the housing market” and tackling the housing scarcity was a “key priority”.

It stated it launched Article 4 to “gain better control over the existing housing stock” and so they had been “continuously monitoring its effects”.

It added a few of the cash raised by the council tax premium was used to allow “the development of new homes, the creation of supported accommodation for those facing homelessness and grants and loans to help local people secure housing, amongst many other projects”.