It’s been more than a year since the Welsh government gave local authorities powers to ramp up Council Tax bills on second homes by up to 300%.
Since April last year, local authorities in Wales have been allowed to charge second homes a premium of up to 300% on standard Council Tax rates. The aim is to tackle unaffordable housing costs by making holiday home ownership less attractive.
The Senedd has stepped things up again this month, introducing new regulations that require new second homes to secure planning consent.
Most councils in Wales have opted to hike Council Tax bills for holiday homes, including Pembrokeshire (+200%, so tripling bills), Anglesey, Ceredigion and Conwy (+100%, doubling, with Ceredigion set to go up to +150% in 2025), and Carmarthenshire (+50%).
Putting a property on the market pauses the Council Tax surcharge for up to a year.
In picturesque coastal county Pembrokeshire, the number of second homes being put up for sale has surged by 255% since Council Tax rates tripled – from 38 listings in July 2023 to 135 in July 2024. Yet the number of properties registered as second homes has fallen only slightly so far, by -2.8% from 3,364 in 2023 to 3,271 in 2024; the number of registered self-catering holiday units has dropped by 7.5% from 2,621 to 2,425.
Neil Evans, owner of estate agency West Wales Properties, says the premium has had a “huge impact” on the market. “We’re seeing properties come on the market at such a volume that I’ve never seen in 30 years,” he told the BBC, adding second home owners “can purchase a property on the other side of the Severn Bridge and have none of this. I think what we’re finding generally is that it’s affected the holiday trade as well.”
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