Second home ownership is increasingly becoming a contentious issue in rural areas of Wales, with local residents expressing frustration over their inability to purchase homes in their home communities. In Pembrokeshire, an area where the Welsh government reported 6.5% of properties were second homes in 2023-24, young people like 23-year-old Rhodri Lewis are finding it impossible to enter the housing market.
"When I did have a look around, there was no chance I was going to be able to afford a house," Lewis stated. He has since moved back in with his parents, a situation he described as unfortunate. Lewis also voiced concerns that the lack of affordable housing for locals could negatively impact the Welsh language, a sentiment echoed by many others in the region.
"Tourism is fantastic for us for three months of the year in the summer," he said, "But then the other eight, nine months, where a lot of the second homes, for example, don't have people in them, it just kills the community for the rest of the year."
Carol Peet, a real estate agent operating in Pembrokeshire, believes that some areas effectively have two distinct housing markets: one for local residents and another for second home buyers. Peet suggested a potential solution: preventing properties priced below the local average, which she estimates to be around £250,000, from being sold as second homes. "Those are the properties that young local families can afford, not the million-pound houses that second homers buy," she explained.
While acknowledging the economic benefits that second homes bring to the local economy, particularly in towns like Narberth, Peet also recognized the critical need for affordable housing for local populations. She pointed out that many picturesque cottages, while appealing for holiday lets, are often impractical for full-time living due to issues like cold, damp, and darkness during winter months.