The Welsh government are implementing policies for the preservation of local populaces in tourist locations. Yet, all is not perfect with the changes being made.
Cwm-Yr-Eglwys (the hamlet pictured above) is a beautiful beach in Pembrokeshire which has become a haven for visitors looking for a picturesque spot to holiday in. Most visitors stay at campsites or in rented accommodations in tourism hotspots such as Cwm-Yr-Eglwys, however there are a minority of landowners that have turned places such as these in to ghost towns during the winter months. Since a BBC News article was posted in June of 2021 about the area, there has been large swathes of debate on social media as well as media attention from other news sources. Perhaps this indirectly led to policy change from government to aid local communities like the one in Cwm-Yr-Eglwys - but has this change worked?
Whereas previous Welsh Government legislation required landlords to accommodate holiday letting properties for just 70 days of the year, these properties are now required to be filled for 182 days, over double the amount of time from before. Not to mention that the maximum premiums on council tax can be anywhere up to 300% in an attempt to tackle the housing crisis. These policies have been deemed by some as controversial and premature, as their intentions of generating more income for local economies, meaning that local people can afford homes, has led to many of the same holiday lets being sold by landlords and not being used anyway. The issue is in fact a complex one, which hard-nosed policies such as these will possibly not rectify.
We exist in a free-market where property is able to be purchased with the right amount of money, and that should be protected to preserve ambition and prosperity in a capitalist economy to some degree. There also need to be areas where local people (mainly youngsters which the tourism industry relies upon) should be able to live and be comfortable in the places they grew up in. The average house price in Pembrokeshire has gone up by £70,000 from £180,000 to £250,000 in the last 4 years. A staggering amount to say the least, but a reflection of what happens when the richest in the UK are able to buy property without resistance. This is not only an issue in Wales, as Scotland announced it would be doubling council tax on second homes from today. It's clear that the devolved governments in the UK believe that increasing council tax to subsidise affordable housing schemes is the solution, but could it be detrimental for the local economy in the long term if visitors decide that its too much?
From personal experience, I have lived in Pembrokeshire for 19 years, whereby the cohesive ecosystem of tourists and locals has thrived for a long time. The problem lies with the balance of that ecosystem, which has started to prioritise a tourist's experience over the local population's wellbeing. Visitors to the village I live in, called Solva, have begun to notice this issue, and a conversation has almost certainly been sparked about it. A conversation which was never aforementioned, showing the power of national coverage of a problem so integral to the rural tourist communitieis in Wales. I have been extremely impressed with the attitude that tourists have shown when speaking about this topic to me, as they seem to understand that without a local populace to support their holidays, there is no way for visitors to be accommodated. One way for the UK to move forward with the issue of second homes is to implement restrictive covenants on a certain percentage of housing in any given town, village or hamlet. Restrictive covenants allow the seller of a plot of land to create conditions which are required by law to be abided by, such as the house staying as a residential lot instead of a holiday one. Idealistically, it would work, but would also pose the question of which houses should receive covenants, and how many, which is an nigh-on-impossible task. Perhaps more of the focus should be with landowners in Pembrokeshire who should support local young people to live in the areas they wish. But, who am I to tell a landowner who they should and shouldn't sell to? It's their prerogative to sell to who they wish without a covenant in place.
The discourse regarding second homes needs to continue, as this balance that I speak of needs to be reinstated for the benefit of Welsh communities who are struggling to keep up with the inflated housing prices; A problem which is also exacerbated by the housing crisis across the UK. We need to better understand the ecosystem with which tourists and local people rely upon so that we can move forward with policy that helps everyone, and not just the rich few.
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