Policy to double council tax charges on additional properties has had bleak repercussions for locals.
Tenby’s cobbled streets are littered with “for sale” signs. A look in the window of any of its six estate agents shows a kaleidoscope of pretty pastel-coloured properties for sale.
More than a quarter of properties in the quaint seaside town are second homes. Hundreds have been hurriedly put on the market in the past year, says Carol Peett, a buying agent at West Wales Property Finders http://www.westwalespropertyfinders.co.uk “I have been absolutely swamped with it. In Tenby there are just so many houses on the market.”
This is all by design. Pembrokeshire County Council ramped up its attack on second home owners last year, charging them a 200pc council tax premium. The aim? To force them to sell up, while allowing locals to find an affordable place to live…….
Tenby, like dozens of second home hotspots along the Welsh coastline, is in a lose-lose situation, explains Peett. While owners selling up has pushed prices down, the properties being sold remain out of the budget of the majority of locals. “They are never going to go below £250,000,” says Peett.
As a result, the local housing market is now stuck with hundreds of properties listed for sale. Meanwhile, many now lie empty as people try to offload their second homes. Demand for these properties is very low – from both locals and other would-be second home owners.
“These houses are standing empty and they are not suitable as main homes,” she says. “They might look like perfect chocolate box cottages but they are hard to heat and in the winter, that’s not practical for a young family.” ….
The Daily Telegraph – 1st April 2025 – https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/property/second-homes/wales-botched-second-home-crackdown-warning-england/?msockid=24f799b79ef86c9b2c068b499f936de5
