A protest by Welsh nationalists has called for a new Property Act to be passed by the Welsh Parliament, which would stop rents being set by the free market.
The Welsh news website The National reports that the protest by Welsh language activists - which took the form of a rally in Aberystwyth - called for a guarantee from the country’s politicians that homes were made available for communities at “fair rental rates”, help for first time buyers through a joint ownership scheme, and the prioritisation of local people in the housing market.
Mabli Siriol, the chair of the Welsh Language Society, is reported to have told the rally: ”We need an effective Property Act that will take the housing and planning system out of the free market and put it under the democratic control of our communities.
"We held the rally today, on the 60th anniversary of the broadcast of Tynged yr Iaith, a lecture which inspired the founding of Cymdeithas yr Iaith [the Welsh Language Society] later that year.
"We have won several campaigns since then, thanks to the work of ordinary people, and we are confident that we will win this fight as well.”
Protestors also called for councils to make planning decisions based on the opinions of the community, to reassess historical planning permission decisions, to cap the number of second or holiday homes, and to control house prices.
Siriol continued: ”Following pressure from people from all over Wales, the government launched two consultations, one on creating a new use class and the other on the government's Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan.
"It is vital that people respond to the consultations, and we have templates on our website that people can use. Pressure has had an effect, and today's intention is to keep up that pressure.
The Welsh Government consultation into its Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan closes today.
In his ministerial foreword to the Plan, Jeremy Miles MS, the minister for the Welsh Language and Education stated: “Large numbers of second homes and short-term holiday accommodation have provoked strong feelings in particular communities in Wales for some years.
"In these communities, there is often a sense of injustice that people are priced out of their local housing market by those purchasing second homes or homes to let as short-term holiday accommodation. We are determined to tackle this issue.
“It is not hard to see that a pattern of young Welsh-speaking people in particular leaving their communities in order to find affordable housing elsewhere can pose a threat to the future of the language in those communities.”
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The Welsh nationalists should feel free to buy up as much property as they want and offer it at below market rents.
Locals selling property can also accept a lower offer from another local instead of accepting a higher offer from a landlord or second home owner. The choice is in the hands of local property owners, not the highest bidders.
I agree with Robert. The sellers don't have to sell to non locals. But would they loose money for the sake of the community?
So they propose to take housing and planning out of the free market and place it under “” the democratic control of the community “” !! I am sure similar words were used in North Korea/China/Russia etc. Any Welsh landlords should be running for the hills, god help the tenants of the future as finding anything to rent is going to be difficult.
And I want council tax to be democratically decided with no regard to the cost of providing services.
So we'll be able to load our basket up in a supermarket and pay what we consider to be a fair price for it ? it would seen that's what these ''activists'' are saying, good luck with that one.
The word "activist" always amuses me as they tend to be lazy workshy couch potatoes who hate to see others prosper through hard work and enterprise.
Can we democratically control in the community the price of my shopping trolley from the supermarkets, please? How dare they set prices according to costs/market-forces...
'out of the free market and under democratic control'...
Right there. The utter stupidity of ideology wrapped up in a big bow.
As a landlord in Wales I find these activists quite interesting as most of the left wing welsh speaking agitators always look to blame everyone else for the issues at hand. I always find it hard to understand that the policy makers never think their policies through to logical conclusions ( or they aren’t interested) . The short term letting market is certainly the one I find most confusing- planning permission is always required to convert a residential property into a commercial which is effectively what a short term let does, especially when the property is on offer permanently. Why not just apply the current regulations first? Also once Rent Smart Wales came into existence rents have increased due to lack of supply, could it be that these idiots have caused all their own problems and are now looking for a scapegoat?
There is already a system in place to grant planning for affordable local housing it’s called local councils and social housing. Unfortunately it fails spectacularly on its two key mandates ie it doesn’t build the houses and it delivers a terrible service to its tenants for the properties it does have. So what a great idea to once again deflect the blame away for their total incompetence by pushing it on to us landlords again, whose only crime is to fill the gap left. Build an excess of houses and rent them to local people and you’ll soon see us disappear.
I totally agree with Michael's point above.
I heard someone complain recently on BBC radio about the lack of Welsh-speaking GP's and suggested it should be mandatory for GP's in Wales to either speak or learn Welsh. How to make a problem worse by ignoring the easy solution - speak English so your GP can understand you!
These minority "activists" in Wales, Scotland, Ulster, Cornwall etc. amuse me and think the majority should always subsidise or "respect" their foibles. I would do neither and in fact, I don't believe the public purse should fund foreign language interpreters for those unable or unwilling to speak the Queen's English
Rental activists need to acknowledge the failure by Govt of Social and Council Housing. Its not the Private sectors role to bail Govt out of the mess they have created.
Clue is in the word, 'PRIVATE Rented Sector '
I think they spelt that wrong,welsh communists not nationalists!
Yes, the Politburo down in Cardiff Bay, along with the ultra-left Plaid Cymru lunatics, are doing a great job of making the PRS in Wales almost uninvestable.
I wish that they could offer us a way out of paying CGT on our properties in exchange for leaving the sector.
I would be on the phone to the agent without delay.
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