Locals have responded with outrage after being blocked from buying a “perfect” fixer-upper cottage in a prime spot on a beautiful Welsh island.
The stone building, which lies in a semi-derelict state after being used as a farm-adjacent residence on Anglesey off the north-west Welsh coast, is on the market for £175,000 – but it’s not available to everyone.
Called Gors y Twr, meaning “marsh of the tower”, the cottage has been green-lit for development into a three-bed home – but, under national guidance, it can only be used as holiday accommodation.
Despite a gaping hole in its roof, caused by a severe storm five years ago, the 150-year-old cottage comes with a sizable plot, yard and attached shippon barn, according to its property listing.
Trearddur Community Council tried to block the tourist-only designation back in 2021, suggesting that there were already “too many holiday properties in the area”, but permission was granted by the larger unitary authority, acting on national planning policies for the conversion of traditional rural buildings.
“Planning has been granted for holiday use only and … cannot be used as a sole main residence,” agent Jones Peckover said, painting the “idyllic and well situated” cottage as the perfect holiday retreat.
For disgruntled locals, however, it represents a missed opportunity to put down roots on their home turf with many priced out of the local property market as house prices continue to soar to a level rivalling London.
Analysis by the Express’s data unit shows a huge gulf between house prices in the island’s small village of Rhosneigr 30 years ago compared to today – jumping from an average of £50,836 to £679,000.
Overtourism is arguably a hotter topic of discussion now than ever before, with holiday spots around the globe introducing so-called tourist taxes in a dual bid to manage footfall and invest to strengthen local infrastructure.
Second home owners outpricing residents is proving to be a similarly contentious issue and one that is driving a gulf between locals and visitors, an increasing number of whom are travelling from overseas – with Visit Wales claiming that the number of German tourists rose by 50% between 2022 and 2023.
One incensed local said she was “gutted” not to have the chance to buy and renovate Gors y Twr – describing it as one of many “restrictions on properties and land inhibiting local people from building genuine homes”.
She wrote on social media: “I’m looking to buy a detached family home in the area – I grew up on the mountain – but I can’t afford to buy what I need anywhere.”
Another Anglesey resident chimed in: “I’m astounded. It’s so daft you would think it was made up. So it can be renovated into a three-bed holiday home. But not a home for a family to move into and settle down and support the community?”
And a third added: “There’s about a dozen new semi-detached homes built near me all for a really reasonable price – [but] every single one of them is sat empty and [has] been for months … because they can only be sold and used as holiday lets.”
National policy favours the conversion of traditional rural buildings into properties for economic use, including business, leisure and tourist accommodation. A spokesperson for Anglesey Council told North Wales Live: “Despite the pressure to convert rural buildings for residential purposes, there is a presumption against this use locally and nationally, with economic use being favoured.”
The council has a separate housing strategy including a Home Buy Scheme for first-time and struggling buyers and charges an extra 100% council tax premium on long-term empty properties and an extra 75% on second homes.