House prices increased in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
during the
Housing market crisis in the United Kingdom (2008). There has been political debate that this has contributed to a decline in the number of speakers of the Welsh language.
Building
Redrow plc
Redrow plc is one of the largest British housebuilders with a network of 14 operational divisions across the UK. It is based in Flintshire, Wales and employs 2,300 people. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is currently a constituent ...
is one of the largest Welsh
housebuilders with a network of 14 operational divisions across the UK.
JCB has a factory and shop in Wrexham which recently recruited 20 new workers.
Property market
Much of the rural Welsh property market was driven by buyers looking for second homes for use as
holiday homes
A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottage ...
, or for retirement. Many buyers were drawn to Wales from England because of relatively inexpensive house prices in Wales as compared to house prices in England.
[Property prices in England and Wales Wednesday, 8 August 2001, extracted 24 Jan 2008](_blank)
/ref>[House prices outpacing incomes Monday, 3 December 2001, extracted 24 Jan 2008](_blank)
/ref> The rise in home prices outpaced the average earnings income in Wales and meant that many local people could not afford to purchase their first home.
In 2001 nearly a third of all properties in Gwynedd were bought by buyers from out of the county, and with some communities reporting as many as a third of local homes used as holiday homes.[Apology over 'insults' to English, BBC Wales, 3 September 2001](_blank)
/ref>[UK: Wales Plaid calls for second home controls, BBC Wales, 17 November 1999](_blank)
/ref> Holiday home owners spend less than six months of the year in the local community.
Influence of the property market on Welsh language
The issue of locals being priced out of the local housing market is common to many rural communities throughout Britain, but in Wales the added dimension of language further complicated the issue, as many new residents did not learn the Welsh language,[Double tax for holiday home owners Thursday, 16 December 1999, extracted 24 Jan 2008](_blank)
/ref>[Controls on second homes reviewed Wednesday, 5 September 2001 extracted 24 Jan 2008](_blank)
/ref>
and in 1996 there had been large protests, backed by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg
The Welsh Language Society ( cy, Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, often abbreviated to Cymdeithas yr Iaith or just Cymdeithas) is a direct action pressure group in Wales campaigning for the right of Welsh people to use the Welsh language in every as ...
, against the construction of 800 houses at Morfa Bychan near Porthmadog.
[
See e.g]
Remember 1996, BBC Cymru
(in Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
, extracted 1 Feb 2008).
The protests followed a High Court decision that planning permission given in 1964 was still valid, which Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg described as a "scandal" in a 1998 report â€
Dewch gyda ni! (Come with us!)
(extracted 1 Feb 2008).
The owners of the site later entered a legal agreement with the council which allowed building of a caravan site on part of the site, but which set aside the earlier permission for the houses; the council later also settled a compensation claim by the developers for its handling of the matter; se
25 year legal case ends as Welsh council pay ÂŁ1.9 million, NewsWales
(extracted 1 Feb 2008)
Political action against second-home ownership
Concerned for the Welsh language under these pressures, Glyn said "Once you have more than 50% of anybody living in a community that speaks a foreign language, then you lose your indigenous tongue almost immediately".[Plaid plan 'protects' rural areas, BBC Wales, 19 June 2001](_blank)
/ref>
''Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
Plaid wa ...
'' had long advocated controls on second homes, and a 2001 task force headed by Dafydd Wigley recommended land should be allocated for affordable local housing, and called for grants for locals to buy houses, and recommended council tax on holiday homes should double, following similar measures in the Scottish Highlands
The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghà idhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...
.
However the Welsh Labour
Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 1922 ...
-Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties
See also
*Liberal democracy
*Lib ...
Assembly coalition rebuffed these proposals, with Assembly housing spokesman Peter Black stating that "we an notframe our planning laws around the Welsh language", adding "Nor can we take punitive measures against second home owners in the way that they propose as these will have an impact on the value of the homes of local people".
By autumn 2001 the Exmoor National Park
Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath ...
authority in England began consideration to limit second home ownership there which was also driving up local housing prices by as much as 31%. Elfyn Llwyd
Elfyn Llwyd (born 26 September 1951) is a Welsh barrister and politician. He was a Member of Parliament, representing Meirionnydd Nant Conwy in the House of Commons from 1992 to 2010 and Dwyfor Meirionnydd from 2010 to 2015. Llwyd was Plaid Cy ...
, ''Plaid Cymru's'' Parliamentary Group Leader, said that the issues in Exmoor National Park were the same as in Wales, however in Wales there is the added dimension of language and culture.
Reflecting on the controversy Glyn's comments caused earlier in the year, Llwyd observed "What is interesting is of course it is fine for Exmoor to defend their community but in Wales when you try to say these things it is called racist..."
Llwyd called on other parties to join in a debate to bring the Exmoor experience to Wales when he said "... I really do ask them and I plead with them to come around the table and talk about the Exmoor suggestion and see if we can now bring it into Wales".
By spring 2002 both the Snowdonia National Park
Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951.
Name and extent
It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...
(Welsh: ''Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri'') and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro) is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales.
It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of three national parks in Wales, the others bei ...
(Welsh: ''Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro'') authorities began limiting second home ownership within the parks, following the example set by Exmoor.[Park to ban new holiday homes Wednesday, 6 March 2002 extracted 24 Jan 2008](_blank)
/ref> According to planners in Snowdonia and Pembroke applicants for new homes must demonstrate a proven local need or the applicant had strong links with the area.
See also
* Affordability of housing in the United Kingdom
The affordability of housing in the UK reflects the ability to rent or buy property. There are various ways to determine or estimate housing affordability. One commonly used metric is the median housing affordability ratio; this compares the medi ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh Housing Crisis (Pre-2009)
2008 in economics
Real estate bubbles of the 2000s
Great Recession in the United Kingdom
Welsh society