Agenda item

In light of the need to obtain better control of houses being taken out of the supply available for local people, and thus benefit local residents first, the research was approved for submission to Welsh Government and that we should:

a)    Call on the Government urgently to emulate what is happening in Scotland and amend the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order to include an additional use class for short-term holiday accommodation. This in turn would allow authorities to identify 'management areas' where it would be required to obtain planning consent in order to change a residential house to be used as short-term holiday accommodation within a specified 'management area'.

b)    In order to assist to maintain control, a call should also be made for a mandatory licensing plan for short-term holiday accommodation where the local authority would be responsible for its implementation.

c)    Whilst the above would assist the Council to obtain better control of housing being used for holiday purposes, it would not be possible to avoid/control houses from being converted into second homes (excluding those let occasionally/permanently). In order to ensure that the Council has the financial means to assist to compensate for the shortcomings in the supply that this would cause, that we call on the Government to change its stance and to act urgently to change the Local Government Finance Act so that any dwelling house that is not the main or sole residence for an individual (whether a second home or a house used for short-term holiday accommodation purposes), is defined as a dwelling house for tax purposes (and thus has to pay any Council Tax premium determined locally). Any short-term holiday accommodation that has received purposeful planning consent for that use would continue to be eligible to pay Non-domestic Business Rates.

d)    To delegate the power to the Head of Environment Department, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, to consider how the research can be used in the context of the local planning policy framework.

The report was submitted by Cllr. Gareth Griffith and Cllr. Craig ab Iago.

DECISION

In light of the need to obtain better control of houses being taken out of the supply available for local people, and thus placing the interests of local residents first, the research was approved to submit to the Welsh Government and that we should:

a)    Call on the Government urgently to emulate what was happening in Scotland and amend the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order to include an additional use class for short-term holiday accommodation. This in turn would allow authorities to identify 'management areas' where it would be required to obtain planning consent in order to change a residential house to be used as short-term holiday accommodation within a specified 'management area'.

b)    In order to assist to maintain control, a call should also be made for a mandatory licensing plan for short-term holiday accommodation where the local authority would be responsible for its implementation.

c)    Whilst the above would assist the Council to obtain better control of housing being used for holiday purposes, it would not be possible to avoid/control houses from being converted into second homes (excluding those let occasionally/permanently). In order to ensure that the Council had the financial means to assist to compensate for the shortcomings in the supply that this would cause, that we call on the Government to change its stance and to act urgently to change the Local Government Finance Act so that any dwelling house that was not the main or sole residence of an individual (whether a second home or a house used for short-term holiday accommodation purposes), was defined as a dwelling house for tax purposes (and thus had to pay any Council Tax premium determined locally). Any short-term holiday accommodation that has received purposeful planning consent for that use would continue to be eligible to pay Non-domestic Business Rates.

d)    To delegate the power to the Head of Environment Department, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, to consider how the research could be used in the context of the local planning policy framework.

DISCUSSION

The report was presented and it was noted that the Cabinet had commissioned a report to examine the impact of holiday homes in Gwynedd's context over a year ago. The staff were thanked for their hard work in producing the report.

It was noted that the report highlighted the main issues in the field, namely the impact on the housing stock, the impact on communities, and the impact on the Welsh language. It was added that the report shared information but also highlighted possible options to tackle these. Attention was drawn to the extremely concerning figures quoted, such as almost 7000 houses in the county being used as holiday homes. It was also noted that during the previous financial year, 38% of the county's houses sold had been bought as second homes. The decision was noted, drawing attention to the fact that the report had received the support of the Communities Scrutiny Committee, which had discussed the matter the previous week.

The Joint Planning Policy Unit Team Leader gave an overview of the report, emphasising that this sector was unregulated at present. A map was shown which highlighted the areas where house prices were higher than the county average, noting that a clear relationship could be seen between these areas and those with a lower number of Welsh speakers. Steps taken in other countries were mentioned, noting that Scotland enforced licensing for holiday accommodation, and that local authorities were able to ask all new holiday accommodation to make a planning application for change of use from residential accommodation to use as holiday accommodation. The need for a mechanism to control the field was emphasised.

The Assistant Head of Environment Department added that the report noted the facts and provided strong evidence to be able to do something, and to look at local planning policy.

Observations arising from the discussion

¾  It was noted that the report was shocking and that the current system put the interests of wealthy second home owners before those of Gwynedd residents. It was noted that the work was a step forward in looking at the field.

¾  It was expressed that the report noted that there were now 227 Airbnb units, showing an increase of 900%, as well as 10% of the county's housing stock being used as holiday homes. It was noted that the report was one that should be presented to the Government to demonstrate how serious the situation was in Gwynedd.

¾  It was emphasised that the previous report had identified the need for housing for the people of Gwynedd, and that this report noted that holiday homes counted for 10% of the county's housing.  The need to look into the field was emphasised, as it currently allowed people to own second homes while others were unable to purchase a house. It was noted that this had been raised 20 years ago but without robust evidence; however, this work had collated all the information and it was now time for action by the Government.

¾  The department was thanked for producing the document, which would give us a factual base from which to act.