Second homes in rural Wales – should we change the locks, or change the tune?

'Rural Wales just has far bigger problems than misappropriated funds'. Yeah, right.

Similar themes to the argument for open borders. It's not about the numbers, it's about providing enough houses for all. So we keep all the second home buyers coming and be nice to them, as they arrive with their bootloads of ASDA shopping, but we build new housing estates for other people. Some of which also become holiday homes themselves, so we need to build more again and again. Where does that stop? When you've turned Abersoch into a town the size of Aberystwyth?, or even bigger? It's then not rural any more.

I enjoyed this article save one minor niggle; The spray-painted signs were not an attempt at resolving or highlighting the very real issues the author raises here. Indeed, the article itself does a good job of that. Those signs, the curtain twitching, the 'are you from 'round here' type questioning is a response to the many people who have fled large cities to rural Cymru during a pandemic, possibly bringing the virus with them to areas that could not deal with the type of spread seen in major urban centres the world over. The underlying issues are just that - underlying. They have no real relevance to the Covid-19 situation, in my view. Despite it's lack of relevance regarding the pandemic, it is an important issue - Many people in rural communities in Cymru grumble about rude tourists, flighty second home owners and recent migrants who moan about hearing a 'foreign language' or insist on sending their kids to an English-medium school where upwards of 50% of the local population are Cymry Cymraeg. But plenty are more nuanced in their approach, as the author states ; if it's 'holding on to Nain's old house' or 'I married a Welshman/Welshwoman' or 'Dwi'n dysgu Cymraeg', this seems to appease most people who may begin with a distrustful attitude; rural people are more understanding than she seems to allude to (and some run the type of businesses that need tourist/second home owner money to survive). Not that either party is right or wrong, but there doesn't seem to be anything but a low buzz of opinion on the matter. We haven't had any meaningful conversation about the nature of rural life in 21st century Cymru, we never hear from more than the same old activist voices, (with whom I tend to agree, by the way). Maybe a specific public forum to address this area would be a good idea?

'Go home' is written in English because the visitors are English. It's both polite and sensible. What is the point of this article? It seems the Polly Fillers and the Phil Spaces are taking over Nation.Cymru.

I get the argument that second-home owners bring in money, but I'm not sure that the numbers really add up. If you're talking about a property visited by its owners for a few weeks in the summer and a few other weekends, even if they spend on some nice restaurant meals etc. while they're there, their overall spend is probably in most cases less than a household living there year-round. Even on a purely economic basis, before considering the social benefit of the local community having somewhere to live without having to engage in a lot of new development on greenfield sites, I am unconvinced. The first link by the author, www.york.ac.uk/media/chp/documents/2005/SecondHomes.pdf does actually concede that: None of the studies tried to compare the typical expenditure of a second home owner with that of a permanent resident. (page 60 in the documents numbering/ page 73 of the pdf)

I think you're wrong, missus; holiday homes are a driver of rural socio-economic change in the Bro Gymraeg, not a sysmptom. If they are a symptom of anything, it is wider colonial tourism that has been promoted, largely for political reasons, for decades in Cymru by powers that have until now been beyond the nation's control. The WAG's decision, reinforced by local councils and the old bill, to curtail the use of Wales as a supposed 'safe zone' by non-residents (in effect, to protect the border for the first time ever) represents a significant move by Cardiff Bay in a positive, pro-Wales direction, and should not only be built on now, but continued and developed once Covid-19 is history.

All 2nd home owners pay 90% to 100% of council tax even if they spend only a short time there. They don't use the schools, garbage collection (much) etc. etc so are not free loading. Many second home owners buy faded semi derelect places locals don't want. May I ask how many Welsh born people live in England? Maybe this ridiculous xenophobia should be laid to rest.

Sloppy thinking. Wringing hands, on the one had this on the other hand that. No action proposed. Writer accepts research that 2nd Homes can be OK. Not what the research actually says. Nordic one had a concrete suggestion " to discuss whether municipal income taxes should be shared between municipalities, based on the locations of the permanent home and the second home." Wow! BTW the research saying 2nd homes are OK comes from places with lost of 2nd homes, and seems mere assertion. No surprise really....

Second homes are like a cancer spreading through many communities not only in Wales but all over the United Kingdom, what we see today is that cancer in it's middle stages of its development. Second homes aren't a new phenomena, they have been around for many years certainly into the 1800s, then there were just one or two owned by some well to do English person (but not always) who would exist for two weeks of the year side by side with the community it found itself in, a community with shops, garages, farms, fishermen etc but very rarely would those owners exist in that community and tat still applies today. Occasionally then a person with cash to spare would buy a property in Wales (I say Wales because that is my country but it could equally be Cornwall or Norfolk etc), these communities were back then quite static, there weren't many comings and goings of the population so houses tended to be lived in, the sale of houses was rare but when one came up for sale the well to do property buyer from the city would offer more money than the young lad who had saved hard to buy his first house could possibly match and so he lost out. Over time this kept happening, eventually the young moving out of their parents houses had to move away to live, over time this started to happen more and more, people being driven away from their home villages, populations decreased, shops closed and so forth. Today we see many second homes or seasonal properties as Royston has observed the GogPlod calling them, in some villages like mine the second home density is running at about 70% and increasing rapidly. So they bring money into Wales, rubbish they do! So they spend their money in the local shops and employ local tradesman? Rubbish! They arrive in their Range Rovers filled full of Pimms and fancy cheese they brought with them from Sainsbury's in Whimchester or some such place. They couldn't shop locally if they wanted too, there are hardly any shops here anymore. They employ builders from Shropshire or Cheshire to work on their houses (probably 90% of the time). What few shops/cafes we have are owned by incomers or larger chains fro outside Wales who employ yet more seasonal staff brought in from England, why, either because there are few young locals here anymore to employ or they want someone who speaks like the well to do types who overrun us in the summer months. Many but again not all of the second homes are claiming to be businesses and we see the red dustbins outside their properties but the only cars we see are the same ones every time someone appears there, no business just ripping us off. We have the ones from Whimchester who claim their second home is their primary residency so they can save on high council tax charges back in Whimchester, save a small fortune on car insurance, they get a postal vote in the election too so now we have an MP who was but just a few months ago the deputy chair of the Kensington and Fulham conservative association. Then come winter they are all gone, the summer population of 10,000 has dropped to less than 1000, what local shops we have shut during the week, the chip shop shuts for 3 months because they can't afford to open. That is just the lovely money they bring into Wales (Sarcastic), do I need to bring up the superior attitude these people have? As I said at the beginning, they are like a cancer, they are chocking the life out of this country and they are spreading, more will come and more local people will be forced to leave. Aside for one minute, I am trying to sell my own house, I have refused 2 offers from people who wanted it for a second home, I am making some small stand but the sad thing is that because house prices are so high in my village no local can afford to buy it, what do I do? As more people leave the workforce declines, as a result more small businesses will close or move away, in return more house will be bought for holiday purposes. Eventually there will be no one left, just these bizzare villages that come alive for a few months of the year but are deserted for the rest, how will that be good for the Welsh economy? Most holiday home people are English but not all but it doesn't matter who they are or where they're from, a second home is a second home and they are doing more damage than good. If you want to come and live here, do so but live here all year round not just a couple of weeks of the year, learn the language, be part of our community, please don't try and turn it into Whimchester by the sea. If you just want a second home, this is my message to you, F-U-C-K O-F-F!

there is nothing to redeem the tourist industry. It rely's on poorly paid seasonal workers and does nothing for the areas it establishes in reality. (I am speaking from personal experience! ). Most people I know can't afford a second home.

Whilst there are certainly issues that have to be tackled in rural Wales, with homes at their heart, this article completely misses the point as far as the pandemic is concerned! Go home/Wales is Closed signs are the result of a 3rd factor - fear - fear of communities that the virus is being brought to them, and fear that our health services can't cope with the current population let alone the increased population due to second-home self isolators, and Covid-19 day trippers completely ignoring the non-essential travel regulation! And on top of that the holiday-home letting that was being actively promoted by websites until very recently. The 11 critical beds in the only hospital in north-west Wales can't be expected to cope with an influx of upwards of 5,000-10,000 extra people during a pandemic, in a health board area that's in special measures because it can't cope in normal times! That's the considered and informed opinion of many of the area's doctors and clinicians too. The second point to make is about resentment of those second-home owners who flipped their properties from the domestic list to the business listing, thus avoiding paying any Council tax even though receiving all the area's usual public services. With £10k grants at stake for small real businesses (including tourism businesses) in order to help them to pay current costs, survive, adapt and recover there is genuine disgust that second-homers are also claiming this money.