Second homes and professional holiday lets on the market don’t make affordable homes says new report

High street estate agents from coastal and rural parts of Wales have told the Cabinet Secretary for Housing that the policy to free up properties as affordable homes is not working.
 
In a meeting with Jayne Bryant MS, agents representing West, Mid and North Wales explained that, while more properties were coming onto the market, hardly any were suitable as affordable homes for local people.
 
They confirmed that the buying and selling of the most expensive properties took place in its own ‘bubble’ with buyers coming from wealthier areas not put off by potentially high council tax premiums.
 
For the middle to higher price properties, these were being taken up by retirees coming into Wales, or people returning to an area, for use as primary residences as still being more affordable than similar properties in other parts of the UK.
 
Lower price properties tended to be in places too far away from facilities, too expensive to heat and maintain or had no gardens or parking, all of which making them unattractive to people looking for primary residences even if they were affordable.
 
Property agents from parts of Wales featuring honey pot destinations were invited to take part in a number of evidence-gathering sessions organised by Propertymark, the independent body for the property sector and the Wales Tourism Alliance, the body representing tourism providers of all kinds across Wales.  Those agents who participated were active in the local domestic sale and rental market, not the holiday let sector.
 
Suzy Davies, outgoing Chair of the WTA said:
 
“We have known for the last two years that professional holiday let businesses, often locally owned, have been caught up in the Welsh Government policies aimed at reducing the number of second homes in some specific parts of Wales.  This is despite the fact that the report which prompted these policies, commissioned by Welsh Government, acknowledged the importance of the tourism industry and distinguished between second homes and professional lets.
 
“Members told us that they were selling or thinking of selling their businesses because of the new, expensive taxes and other requirements being placed on them by Welsh Government, which were driving them to discount prices at the same time as rising costs and a drop in demand were affecting viability.   Solid, first-hand information from the Professional Association of Self-Caterers about how genuine business owners were being affected has already been shared with Welsh Government.
 
“Members also told us that their properties would add nothing to the stock of attractive affordable homes, even in areas where prices were falling.  We felt we needed to test this assertion before approaching the Cabinet Secretary for Housing by seeking evidence from the open housing market, entirely independently from holiday property representatives.  We were delighted that Propertymark agreed to co-produce this preliminary report.”
 
Tim Thomas of Propertymark said:
 
“Propertymark was delighted to work in partnership as an independent partner with the Welsh Tourism Alliance. We have been very active with both the Welsh Government and local authority consultations on measures to regulate holiday lets.
 
“We are supportive of the aims of the Welsh Government in ensuring that people can afford to buy or rent a home locally, to support local economies and the Welsh language. However, any measures must be proportionate and take consideration of any unintended consequences.
 
“The recommendations in the report have come from the insights of property agents during our research and we look forward to continuing to engage with the Welsh Government to assess the impact of their policies.”

You can read the report below.

Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.