Madam,

If MP Liz Saville Roberts believes that the inability of young Welsh people to purchase a home is based on the prominence of secondary home owners in Gwynedd - she is either naïve or MPs need to review solutions for a much bigger problem.

Firstly, I am Canadian and, yes, I own a home in Gwynedd. Governments in my country were faced with similar issues regarding empty residences and problems with first-time home buyers affording such a significant purchase. We are handling these problems quite differently.

In the greater Vancouver area, on the West Coast, many Asians were dumping money into houses, which has caused housing prices to skyrocket and later left many homes empty.

The government of British Columbia levied a 15 per cent surcharge on the purchase of houses not for primary use, thus discouraging this type of investment almost instantly.

Taxing homeowners after the fact is, in my mind, unfair and punishing individuals for a previous purchase over which they now have no control. Unless, of course, all of us decide to sell our homes. Would that solve the problem?

There are other economics at play all across Great Britain. Picture that Canada has much more available land for housing development with a much smaller population, and the price of homes is still high, especially for first-time home owners.

To “support the dream of home ownership” to which this MP refers, there is an agency in Canada called CMHC - Canada Mortgage and Homeowners Corporation – which serves to insure highly leveraged homes. Further, first-time home owners only need to secure a five per cent down payment; all creating incentives to help younger and typically less prosperous families to make that initial significant purchase.

Then Mrs Saville Roberts suggested that Gwynedd Council should look at closing a loophole that would discourage us secondary homeowners from renting their properties to offset the increased taxes or increased risks associated with rental properties - another Pandora’s box. Why should us homeowners shoulder the increase in taxes that now leave many businesses in the area exempt?

Gwynedd Council needs to seriously review its long-term strategy to increase business initiatives and tourism revenues, without blaming the citizens who appreciate the Gwynedd area enough to invest and gamble in the “hopes” that we will be treated fairly.

Finally, the parliament of the United Kingdom needs to study how other countries have managed the difficulty of their citizens buying their first home. Stop blaming those who have already invested. I suggest MPs start focusing on helping the real disenfranchised.

Yours etc,

Dr Linda Goodyear, Dolgellau.

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