Rises of up to 300% in council tax for second homes and changes in planning rules for holiday lets in Wales have been hailed as a success by Welsh Government minister Jayne Bryant (pictured) as owners sell up and prices had dropped 25% over the last 12 months.

But Bryant is also excited about  a substantial rise in the number of locals taking up her Government’s pilot Homebuy scheme, which lends up to 30% of the purchase price to locals who would not normally be able to afford to do so.

Bryant, who is Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, said: “The Dwyfor second homes and affordability pilot continues to provide a real opportunity to assess a range of radical interventions designed to support thriving local communities in which people can afford to live and work.”

Not everyone is behind the attempts to drive out second home owners, with The Neg reporting last month that it has already resulted in the closure of at least one estate agency,  pembrokeshireproperties.co.uk, which said: “We went from selling 60 properties in the 2021-22 financial year to just 10 this year.”

Desired effect

And, as was also reported recently, many local traders are not happy.

When The Neg asked Propertymark’s Tim Thomas (Policy and campaigns Officer) about the issue, he said that the feedback from their member agents suggested the second home and holiday let crackdown is not having the desired effect.

That’s because the campaign is forcing Welsh owners to sell up rather than wealthier outside investors who are just taking the hit.

Thomas added that many of the properties that were being sold were inappropriate for buyers with limited funds as they were often at the top end of the market.

The Welsh Government, on the other hand, flushed from its ‘success’, is keen to roll out the initiative across the Principality and is actively ‘encouraging’ more local authorities to raise council tax premiums. And, so far, 21 more Welsh local authorities have signed up.