Gwynedd Council is hoping to enlist the support of other rural councils as it campaigns to close a legal loophole allowing holiday home owners to potentially avoid paying any council tax.

The county contains more second homes than any other in Wales, with the authority implementing a 50 per cent levy on their owners since April 2018 in a bid to dampen their popularity.

But while the scheme has brought in significant additional income to the authority’s coffers at a time when block grants are continuing to dwindle, concerns have been raised following the recent revelation that over the past three years, 768 home owners have exploited a loophole by registering their properties as businesses – which means they can potentially avoid paying anything to the council.

During Thursday’s audit committee meeting, Gwynedd’s chief executive confirmed that they were hoping to gain the support of eight other rural councils in pressing the Welsh Government to change the law.

Responding to a question from Llais Gwynedd’s Alwyn Gruffydd, who described the current situation as a “flaw in the law”, the finance portfolio holder admitted that it was a “problem” for the authority.

“Unfortunately it’s currently outside our scope to do much, but we are communicating with Cardiff Bay to try to change the law,” Cllr Peredur Jenkins went on to say, “I can assure you that pressure is being placed on the government, although I haven’t been holding out much hope, I must admit.”

Chief executive, Dilwyn Williams, added: “I have agreed with the WLGA’s rural forum to present a report at their next meeting, with the data currently being collated.

“The aim is to show how much the public purse is missing out on due to the current situation and to see if the other eight authorities will join us in our campaign.

“Its another tactic we can use as part of the ongoing battle to further press the issue.”

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