Agenda item

CABINET MEMBERS:

Councillor Gareth Griffith (Environment)

Councillor Craig ab Iago ( Housing)

 

To consider the report

To accept the contents of the report.

To thank officers for presenting evidence and detailed and useful information which may be used to try to convince Welsh Government to change its planning policies.

 

The research commissioned by the Cabinet in July 2019 was presented on how to try and address how we could restrict the number of houses that can be used for holiday purposes by looking at measures implemented in other places, and how the planning legislation could be changed in order to implement these in Wales. A request was made for the Committee's observations on the work prior to reporting to the Cabinet on 15 December 2020.

 

Attention was drawn to the definition of 'holiday homes' for the purpose of the work, as;   

• Short-term let holiday units: A residential house (C3 use class) that is not regularly occupied and is let periodically for holiday use on a commercial basis. 

• Second homes: A residential house (C3 use class) that is used occasionally by its owner (but not as a main residence) in addition to other visitors for holiday use. 

 

A detailed and meaningful presentation was given to the work and the six recommendations were discussed.  It was noted that the recommendations gave options in terms of the possible mechanism that could be implemented in order to have control and reduce the impact of holiday accommodation on communities. It was explained that some recommendations would be discussed jointly and were matters for the Welsh Government to implement, while it was possible to implement others at a local level e.g. implement local planning policies effectively – further consideration may be given to this recommendation in the short term and when reviewing the Joint Local Development Plan.

 

Members expressed their thanks for the report.

 

The Cabinet Member for the Environment expressed his disappointment that Cardiff City was the only other Authority that had contributed to the research, however, other counties had shown an interest since the report had been released publicly. He added that one County had already presented notices of motion before their Council. He accepted that the Council faced a challenge as the Government did not have much interest in the current situation, but with an operational document supported by evidence it would be possible to act and respond to the challenge.

 

The Head of Housing and Property congratulated the team for their work and added that the evidence gathered would put an end to the Welsh Government's excuses for not taking action. Having considered the Housing Premium, Gwynedd Housing Action Plan together with the research, it was highlighted that there was specific evidence to set a direction to control the use.

 

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Property added that the research paper presented facts that were now a tool to challenge the Welsh Government – the use must be controlled.

 

During the discussion, the following observations were made by Members:-

·         The report was welcomed – it was a good foundation to begin lobbying and was a golden opportunity to change the system and to take responsibility and control of the situation. 

·         The report addressed matters such as AirBnB, however, not enough was being made to change the Planning Act by setting thresholds for control – it was necessary to persuade the Welsh Government to change the Act. 

·         The statistics were alarming 

·         It was necessary to act and challenge the Government to make a difference

·         More details regarding employment were required as well as the high house prices in some areas – this would highlight how the Welsh language was losing its foothold – the Welsh language strongholds were losing their Welsh character.

·         There was a need to close the loopholes so that oid regulatory arrangements could not be avoided – 'short let holiday units' could be targeted – the owner was likely to transfer back to the 'second home' category as a way of avoiding control

·         There was a suggestion to adopt 'intervention' – creating two tiers holiday and local that will protect the local housing stock and drive prices 

·         Need to consider Land Transaction Tax – an opportunity to increase the premium 

·         Matters outside the planning field that can be implemented e.g. tourist tax

·         Control was required over 'second homes' – there were no opportunities or homes available for young people

·         Control was needed over house letting and AirBnB – to ensure standards for letting and tidiness 

·         Need to restrict the numbers of holiday homes

 

In response to a comment regarding seeking control over holiday homes and the side effects that stem from this, the Assistant Head of the Environment noted that the brief was limited to looking at the use of open market housing as holiday homes / second homes.  He added that the work included detailed and factual information (submitted by a number of departments) that presented valuable local and national evidence. He highlighted that there were no easy solutions and referred to work undertaken in Scotland as a good example that had proven that it was possible to control short-term holiday use by changing planning legislation and licensing.  He noted that some of the recommendations needed to be implemented jointly at a national level, while others were local matters where evidence could be used to adapt local policies. He accepted that the Land Transaction Act was also a tool that may be used.

 

In response to a comment regarding the Tourist Tax and the fact that it had not been included as a recommendation for the Cabinet to consider, it was highlighted that this work was led by the Economic Development Department and therefore had not been included as one of the main recommendations.

 

In response to a comment that 'second homes' should be considered within a compulsory licensing scheme, it was noted that this would be extremely difficult to control via the planning system compared to 'holiday accommodation' which was commercial use and people coming and going where it could be demonstrated that there was change of use. As the control of second homes was difficult, since it was not possible to prove change of use, it was noted that the recommendation in terms of planning and licensing legislation followed the control of short-term holiday accommodation and sought to get an accurate picture of the situation at ground level and at the expense of this, in the future it would be possible to consider controlling this via local planning policies.

 

In response to the comment that the control of second homes was difficult, it was suggested that a challenge should be given to the Cabinet to consider setting a different category.  Once the category was included it would be possible to control this.

 

RESOLVED

 

·         To accept the contents of the report.

·         To thank officers for presenting evidence and detailed and useful information which may be used to try to convince Welsh Government to change its planning policies.