Second home owners in north Wales may need planning permission to convert their property into second homes or holiday lets in the future. On Tuesday afternoon, Cyngor Gwynedd decided they would proceed with their steps to control the use of houses as second homes and holiday under new planning legislation.
It comes after the Welsh Government announced a series of measures last year to address the impact of second homes and short-term holiday accommodation on Welsh communities. These measures included permitting councils to increase council tax premiums as well as changes to the criteria for self-catering accommodation being liable for business rates instead of council tax.
Some of those measures have now been implemented in Gwynedd, which has some of the highest concentration of second homes in its tourist areas. In November of last year the council announced their plans to increase the premium it charges to the owners of 23,000 second homes in the county to 150%, which was implemented in April of this year.
