NEARLY half of all houses sold in the Dwyfor and Meirionnydd regions of Gwynedd were sold as holiday homes, new data has revealed.

New data from the Welsh Revenue Authority shows that 44 per cent of the properties sold in Dwyfor Meirionydd in 2020-21 were classified as Higher Rates – the vast majority of which would have been sold as second homes according to local MS Plaid Cymru’s Mabon ap Gwynfor.

Those looking to buy second homes or buy-to-let properties in Wales have to pay at least an extra 4 per cent in Land Transaction Tax (LTT) on top of that payable for their band.

The statistics also show that Dwyfor Meirionydd contributed the most in land transaction tax to the Welsh treasury coffers due to the high number of sales from Higher Rates properties, followed by Anglesey and Gower.

This higher rate is activated when a house is sold to someone already owning another property, which in addition to holiday homes can also includes those buying houses to rent them out and also someone still trying to sell their original home.

Described by the local Senedd Member, Mabon ap Gwynfor, as “devastating,” the news comes among growing concern over the viability of many Welsh speaking communities in rural and coastal Wales.

On a county by county basis, Gwynedd, Anglesey, Pembrokeshire, Conwy, Blaenau Gwent, Swansea, Rhondda and Ceredigion all saw an above average percentage of local property sales being subject to the highest rate.

In December this highest rate was raised from 3 per cent to 4 per cent on properties up to the value of £180,000, with the LTT being the Welsh version of Stamp Duty.

But the percentage payable in tax rises to as much as 16 per cent for property sales of £1.6m or more.

In Gwynedd, where 1,920 residential property transactions were recorded during the year, 720 resulted in the buyers paying the higher tax rate (37.5 per cent).

Broken down further, 590 of these were as individual purchases for someone not planning to use it as a main residence (30.7 per cent of all property sales), as opposed to still trying to sell their previous home or being bought by a company.

Anglesey saw the second highest figure with 410 of the 1,210 property transactions paying the highest rate (33.88 per cent).

Of those, 320 were for properties not designed to be used as the buyer’s main residence (26.4 per cent).

Plaid Cymru Housing Spokesperson and Dwyfor Meirionnydd MSm Mabon ap Gwynfor, said: “These statistics are devastating and confirm what we already knew: This is a crisis that will devastate communities if urgent Government action isn’t taken.

“Nearly half of the housing stock in my constituency of Dwyfor Meirionydd were sold as second homes followed by Pembrokeshire, Carmarthen West and Ynys Mon – areas where communities there have been blighted by the second homes crisis.

“The Labour Government in Cardiff has stood by and watched as our communities are engulfed by the housing crisis.

"Their latest announcement this week was weak and kicks the problem into the long grass. Consultations, trials and pilot schemes are not going to be enough. What our communities need is action – and fast.”

Mr ap Gwynfor will be one of the speakers at a rally organised by Cymdeithas yr Iaith which will take place today (Saturday, July 10) to protest the “collapse of communities” at the site of the Tryweryn dam in Bala.

Earlier this week the Welsh Government unveiled a “summer of action” as it plans to tackle long running concerns over the impact of second homes.

Among these measures are a planned statutory registration scheme for all holiday accommodation, including short-term lets, and potentially a separate planning classification for second homes.

The Welsh Government is also expected to carry out a consultation on shutting what is often referred to as a “loophole,” which allows the owners of second properties to flip from domestic to non-domestic rates, but making use of Small Businesses Rates Relief to avoid making any contribution at all into local authority coffers.

Housing minister Julie James, setting out the Government’s proposals on Monday, said that all second home owners should be making a “fair contribution to the communities in which they buy property” and suggested more stringent checks and potential changes to local taxes.

The leader of Gwynedd Council, Cllr Dyfrig Siencyn, responded to the latest statistics with: “These stark figures only confirm the high proportion of properties purchased as second homes in Gwynedd, contributing to an already inflated housing market.

“It exposes the dire situation of our communities when they are unable to purchase homes within their localities.

“We call on Welsh Government to act as a matter of urgency and avoid further procrastination.

“We have already provided them with short and longer term actions which they can implement, and we are keen to work with the Government to achieve speedy solutions.”