“Second home ownership is a significant issue for local communities and local first-time buyers in rural Carmarthenshire. Will Carmarthenshire County Council implement the second home council tax premium of 300% from April 2023?”
Minutes:
“Second home ownership is a significant issue for local communities and local first-time buyers in rural Carmarthenshire. Will Carmarthenshire County Council implement the second home council tax premium of 300% from April 2023?”
Response by Councillor Alun Lenny – Cabinet Member for Resources:-
Thank you for your question it is indeed a most timely one. Before specifically addressing your question please forgive me if I do for a minute or two try to explain where we stand on this, what the latest development is and what has happened since you have tabled this question at a national level.
This Council is very concerned about the damage that the unreasonable growth in the number of second homes has especially for beach side resorts like Llansteffan but also to rural towns as well like Cilycwm and Myddfai. In my opinion it is completely unacceptable for people who are rich enough to afford a second home are denying local young people from buying their first home in their own communities. And by pushing the house prices up beyond any means, we say a second home but it’s a second house in a way because you can’t call a house by somebody who only spends a few weeks a year as a home. It is not a problem in Wales only of course. People from Cornwall and in the Lakes and also in the Northeast of England also face the same problem. I discussed it with the Chair of the Planning Committee in Northumberland, but in Wales of course, language is a unique factor.
Last year this Council called on the Welsh Government to give new powers to Local Authorities to take action in this area not only for the right to raise a higher premium but also via the planning regime and also to put a cap on the number of second homes in any specific area. I am pleased to say that this is going to happen thanks to the agreement between Plaid Cymru and Labour in the Senedd, a package of measures was announced last week which to some extent was according to what we as a Council would have called for.
Among the measures the Welsh Government recommends creating three new classes of house use which is, main home, a second home and holiday lets on short term basis. Local Planning Authorities based on evidence will have the right to insist that every owner has to get planning permission if they want to change the use of a house from one class to another.
The National Planning Policy will also change in also to give Local Authorities the right to manage the number of second homes and holiday homes in any community. It is an intention to present a statutory Licensing Plan for every holiday home including short term holiday lets. Also measures to increase the rates for second homes and on holiday lets.
In terms of your specific question, if Carmarthenshire Council is going to raise the premium of 300% on second homes, as I said only last week this new package came from the Welsh Government so the Cabinet has not had an opportunity to discuss it yet, but we will be discussing it very soon and I can assure you that we are determined to make full use of the additional powers that we have received from the Welsh Government.
Thank you very much once again for your question on this extremely important matter.
Supplementary Question by Ms Ellen Humphrey:-
Is the Council looking at any other means to help tackle the issue of second homes/holiday homes and is this something that the Council gathers data on to analyse trends at a local level – villages and towns to see where the hotspots are?
Response by Councillor Alun Lenny – Cabinet Member for Resources:-
The raft of measures we have had from Welsh Government will be something the Cabinet will be looking at and as former Chair of Planning I felt strongly that it isn’t just the premium that needs to be looked at but the new regulations now regarding the three types of houses that are being introduced, being a first home, second home and holiday home that the measures being proposed by the Welsh Government as a result of a deal between Plaid Cymru and the Labour Party those measures will include giving local Planning Authorities the Power to decide on the change of use from one type of property to another. So, this goes far beyond the 300% premium proposal which will be a power given to us. But as I said, because these measures only came to us from Welsh Government last week the Cabinet has not had an opportunity yet to consider them in detail. But I can assure we will be doing so shortly.