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Seaside town residents slam second home owners as house prices triple

Original source (on modern site) | Article images: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

The village of Nefyn is one of Wales' most picturesque (Image: Gwynedd CC)

Welsh locals have railed against second home owners they claim have ruined their little town on the country's idyllic Llŷn Peninsula. Nefyn, close to Snowdonia, in north Wales, sits beside sandy beaches in a coastal enclave protected by high cliffs. But, despite being tucked away in the countryside, residents have claimed that demand from holidaymakers has priced them out of a future in the community.

Speaking to The Sun, Nefyn residents have said that people hoping to profit off homes in the village have nearly tripled the community's house prices.

Second home owners have snatched away picturesque properties, extinguishing hopes for born-and-bred locals to buy one of their own.

Even renters have run out of options, with the rare few homes available for lodgers placed on AirBnB for holidaymakers.

Morgan Jones, 30, said he was forced to stay with his parents after he failed to find a rental of his own.

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The village sits in the Snowdonia countryside (Image: GETTY)

He racks up 80 hours a week operating his own bistro in Pwllheli, a town seven miles to the south.

He is "desperate" to buy a home of his own but Nefyn's house prices appear too far out of reach.

A rental property is similarly unattainable, with no affordable properties available, and the few that ever come on the market being "snapped up immediately".

A cursory search of local property sites shows a handful of lettings available, with just nine within 10 miles of Nefyn's village boundaries.

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Nefyn residents have complained they are being priced out (Image: VISIT WALES)

The bistro owner said most homes he found for rent online were "about 20 miles away" from his hometown.

He is among several locals who have called for urgent changes to the Nefyn property market.

Cerys, 24, said she would "never be able to save enough" for a home while earning £15 an hour as a pub bartender.

She blamed second home owners for sending prices "spiralling upwards out of local people's reach".

Village locals have struggled to find places to live (Image: GETTY)

She questioned who would help provide services for second home owners and holidaymakers if locals were priced out of the village.

In February, real estate firm Rightmove found that home values in Nefyn had increased by 175 percent in just 12 months.

Average prices currently sit at £576,333, rivalling those in some of the UK's biggest cities.

They are more than double those in Pwllheli, where the local average is £236,076.

The prices mean that even high-earning Nefyn residents who may once have had the money for a home cannot enter the market.

Van driver Chris, 32, said his wages would have enabled him to buy a house "a few years ago", but the prospect is now out of reach for him and his two young sons.

He only found a rental property thanks to a friend of his, who knew a local landlord, and blamed "opportunists" for pushing the housing market "out of the reach of local people like me".

Estate agents believe that prices will eventually cool, but in the meantime, Nefyn locals must reckon with a market out of their reach.

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