At a meeting of the National Park Authority’s Planning and Access Committee this morning, members voted unanimously in support of proceeding with further preparatory work on the principle of implementing the Article 4 Direction for the National Park area.

The decision comes in the wake of measures introduced by the Welsh Government back in 2022 to address the effects of second homes and short-term holiday lets on communities. These new measures empower Planning Authorities to determine the need to implement the Article 4 Direction within their area. The new direction would make it a requirement for planning consent to be secured before a residential dwelling can be changed into a holiday let or second home.

Over the coming weeks, National Park Planning Officers will prepare a detailed report to establish whether second homes and short-term holiday lets are having a detrimental effect on the supply of local housing for the residents of Eryri. The work will also consider the effectiveness of implementing the Article 4 Direction in bringing the housing stock back within the reach of local people. Authority members will consider the findings of the report in a meeting of the Planning and Access Committee early in 2024, and will determine whether or not to give formal notice of the intention to implement the Article 4 Direction in  Eryri.

Councillor Elwyn Edwards, Chair of the National Park Authority’s Planning and Access Committee said:

“Thriving communities and the Welsh language are some of the National Park’s special qualities. They can only be safeguarded for the future by ensuring a sufficient supply of housing for local people who wish to live in their local community and thus sustaining this precious way of life.

If research finds that second homes and short-term holiday lets do have an effect on the local housing supply, then these new measures will provide us with an important tool to help protect the local housing stock and bring them within the reach of local people.

If Members vote in favour of implementing the Article 4 Direction, a period of public consultation with the National Park’s communities will commence in spring 2024.

Ends

Notes to Editors

  1. Under the new measures, three new classes of house uses were introduced which comprise of main residence, second home and short-term holiday let.
  2. The new measures stipulate that a Planning Authority must give a period of 12 months’ notice before the implementation of the Direction.
  3. Eryri is the second Planning Authority in Wales to take steps to implement the new measures, following in the footsteps of Cyngor Gwynedd who has now completed its consultation period.
  4. National Park Authority officials will be available for interview on this subject in the Spring, when more details are available, and the decision made.

For more information, contact Gwen Aeron Edwards, Planning and Land Management Communications Officer on gwen.aeron@eryri.llyw.cymru or 01766 770 274