Editor

I fully support Debbie Kojs over her request that Gwynedd Council reconsiders its council tax premium on second homes(Cambrian News, 2 April). It is disgraceful that she should be expected to pay tax, plus the 100 per cent premium, on an unoccupied property she was refurbishing to let out as a business but was unable to advertise due to the pandemic.

I would also wish to support the expatriate Welsh community of North Wales who own second homes in the area but have to work in other parts of the UK or overseas. Why should they have to pay a 100 per cent council tax premium for the privilage of owning a property in their Homeland? Debbie Kojs also mentions an important point that many inland second homes were semi-derelict properties which would have remained unoccupied but for their new owners.

Even more incredulous is the statement from the spokesperson for Gwynedd Council - “Recent research shows that 60 per cent of local people are priced out of the housing market in Gwynedd”. If the spokesperson looks on Rightmove they will notice that there are currently 303 properties for sale in Gwynedd at less than £120,000. So what house price is the council using as a baseline figure to judge affordability?

I note that the spokesperson fails to mention the other recent research which showed that55.1 per cent of respondents in Gwynedd believed second homes bring “positive benefits”.

Houses in Gwynedd are amongst the cheapest in the UK.Everyone, other than the council, can see that the problem is average earnings and not average house prices.

The Plaid Cymru-led council is playing politics by shifting the blame onto second home owners.

Local residents need to wake up to this fact.

Until they do so local wages will remain low and our young people will struggle to find full time employment in the higher salary brackets without moving to England.

John Rees Moss Bala

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