A woman is sitting on a bench near her home every day in protest over fears that she could soon lose the house after a real estate company bought half the village. Sara Lewis, 55, from Aberllefenni in Gwynedd has seen her rent increase by £200 each month after the 16 former quarrymen’s homes in the north Wales village were sold.
The 16 houses and cottages - some dating back to the 16th century - first went up for sale in 2016. New owner Walsh Investment Properties said "it's fair and reasonable to charge a market rent". They added that most of the tenants have been charged a low rent for years which is "not sustainable".
“I’m going to go up to the hill by my house to protest and that is the furthest I will go [away from her home],” Sara, who suffers with chronic emphysema which means she struggles to breathe, told WalesOnline on Monday minutes before she dragged herself up the hill and unfurled her paper banner on the wooden bench which reads: “No breath, no home, no hope!!”.
