An almost empty new build estate has sparked anger because rules state that the houses can be only sold as holiday homes, with one would-be buyer saying her grandparents would be “turning in their graves”.
Parc Delfryn, Brynteg, is two miles from the Anglesey coast and home to the second highest rate of holiday home users, external in Wales for its population size, yet 14 of the 16 houses have not been sold since 2023.
But planning restrictions imposed before construction began mean they cannot be sold to people who want to live there and a challenge to the rules failed.
Anglesey council said changing rules would “set a dangerous precedent” for holiday homes approved around the island.
“What I can’t get my head around is that the council think this is right for the area.
“They do not realise the impact it’s having on local people,” said Jane Roberts, who grew up in Brynteg.
She had plans to move back to the area, where her family have lived for generations, in 2024.
But she realised if she wanted to buy one of these homes, she would have to rent out her home in Llangefni to do so.
Since April 2024, second home owners on Anglesey pay an extra 100% council tax on their properties – unless the property is let out for at least 182 days a year.
This followed a Wales-wide plan to allow councils to charge up to four times their current level of council tax as part of efforts to make it easier for people to afford homes where they grew up.
In June 2023, the reported Anglesey had seen the biggest jump in holiday home users in England and Wales over the past 10 years.
As of late 2023, some 10% of the island’s housing stock was classed as either second or holiday homes, according to planning documents – higher than in other areas of Wales and in the UK.