Dozens of local families have been blocked from moving into a new-build housing estate because the £250,000 properties can only be sold as holiday homes.
The 16 ‘turnkey’ homes at the Parc Delfry development near the picturesque village of Brynteg in Anglesey, North Wales, are fully furnished and ready to move in.
But the site has been virtually empty for two years because of planning restrictions imposed in 2007 before they were built, saying they can only be holiday homes.
Some 14 of the homes still remain unsold, with a planning report suggesting this is due to changes to Welsh government taxation on second homes announced in 2022.
Owners of second homes in Anglesey now have to pay 200 per cent council tax, unless they are classed as holiday lets and rented out for at least 182 days each year.
Anglesey Council rejected an application to allow the homes to be used as full-time residential accommodation – with at least 37 local families blocked from moving in.
These 37 families, most of whom live in the Anglesey area already, had enquired about buying the homes in the ‘tight-knit community’ – but were all ‘turned away’.
Despite the developer’s pleas, the council ruled against changing the planning restriction over concerns it would have a ‘detrimental impact on the Welsh language’.
This is based on fears that if the homes are available for general purchase, English speakers will snap them up which will risk endangering the Welsh language by forcing young Welsh speakers to move away and eroding the local community.
The three-bedroom semi-detached homes were finished in late 2023 as the second phase of a housing scheme, after the first 20 holiday homes were built and all sold.
The ‘turnkey’ homes at the Parc Delfry development near Brynteg in Anglesey, North Wales
But this first batch was sold before the tax changes were brought in – and Parc Delfryn has since been calling for the council to drop the planning restriction.
A planning agent said owner Collette Cartwright would be happy to have conditions imposed, restricting sales to those with connections to the island.
The houses in the development had their prices dropped multiple times, most recently to £250,000 last summer.
Some 10 per cent of homes in Anglesey are currently classed as second or holiday homes – higher than in other areas of Wales.
Agent Simon James, from PLanD development consultants, said: ‘To date the applicant, notwithstanding the extensive efforts expended in seeking to sell the dwellings over two years, has only sold two properties.
‘This in particular has occurred at a time when there is both clear government policy pressure to discourage the creation of holiday homes, in preference to full residential dwellings, and demonstrably, a good level of demand for family homes, itself increased by declining delivery of family homes and a likely rise in demand as both interest rates fall and recently announced significant economic investment in the area.
‘There are therefore 14 fully completed, modern family homes ready to be occupied, but which, because of the particular occupancy restriction imposed, are unattractive in the market for the consented, restricted use, even though the price has been reduced quite substantially over time.
‘At the same time, in the view of the marketing agents, the dwellings would have been very attractive in the general housing market as family dwellings.
Just two of the 16 homes have been purchased since the estate was completed in late 2023
‘The applicant has turned away at least 37 families who enquired about the potential purchase of the properties as full time family homes, ie, these were not general searches, but specific enquiries made of the properties.’
Estate agents Dafydd Hardy and Beresford Adams, who wrote a report on the market history of the site, questioned whether it is right to leave ‘valuable housing stock lying idle’.
It concluded: ‘We have, we believe, demonstrated that a comprehensive, wide-ranging and sustained marketing campaign has been carried out with a very engaged client/owner who has responded to the marketing advice we have given.
‘This has yielded very little positive results and this indicates that the market for second/holiday homes, at the very least in Brynteg, is simply not there at this time.
‘The question therefore is, is it right to leave valuable housing stock lying idle when it can be put to a positive and sustainable use, and meet the acknowledged need of local families seeking attractive and long-term family housing?’
But Anglesey planners ruled against changing the restriction that the homes were only allowed as holiday stays.
Their refusal is based on the view it is not justified – and ‘insufficient information has been received to demonstrate that the proposal will not have a detrimental impact upon the Welsh Language’.
The developer is expected to appeal to the Welsh Government in a bid to overturn the condition.
Mr James said ‘serious consideration’ is being given to appealing to the Government to overturn the rule.
Any appeal would go to the Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW).
Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth MS has previously cited the development as an ‘example of planning legislation that does not work for the benefit of the community’.
