North Wales Property Crash Wipes Out Life Savings

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I want Rhiley and Harley to know their mum’s spirit ran beside me every step

Alan Harper-Smith’s story is one of a man who once saved for a modest flat near a railway line and now finds himself the owner of a sprawling former farm in Gwynedd, yet feeling anything but free.

After nearly three decades on the Llŷn Peninsula, where three of his four children still live at home, Alan has built a life filled with local ties, converting five 16th-century cottages into holiday lets and running a B&B in the main farmhouse, where guests are promised locally caught smoked kippers.

But recent changes in property and tourism policy have left him, and many others in the county, feeling boxed in and considering drastic options.Alan’s frustration is echoed in his own words: “To be honest, we are thinking of selling up with all the restrictions coming in the pipeline and the destruction of tourism in Wales.

It will be a massive reduction in price for me, but probably worth it from a mental health point of view for both my wife and I. It is driving me bonkers and my health is suffering.”

Yet, with the property market in Gwynedd slumping, he is unwilling to take a huge loss, remarking, “No one would sell a £500,000 house for £50,000,” and is instead weighing alternatives like decommissioning the cottages or converting them to business units.

He is far from alone, as homeowners across North Wales vent online about a stagnant market, with even substantial discounts failing to attract buyers.

One woman from Gwynedd shared how her parents’ bungalow, boasting sea and mountain views, sold within a day eighteen months ago but had to be withdrawn due to ill health; now, after improvements, it sits unsold after a month with no viewings and a price cut looming.

In Conwy, pensioners with a second home are desperate to sell before their council tax jumps to £9,666, compared to £3,866 if it were their main home, with the husband admitting, “I am feeling sick and worried,” and lamenting, “My Welsh-born father and grandparents would be turning in their graves if they knew.”

The pressure is mounting for second-home owners and holiday let operators, as new council tax premiums and letting thresholds threaten their viability.

Nicky Williamson of PASC Cymru highlights another blow: some owners are facing unexpected bills for tens of thousands of pounds due to quirks in the Valuation Office’s method for assessing holiday lets, which penalizes them for not meeting the 182-day letting threshold in years when it was not yet required.

“People are getting massive bills landing on their doorsteps,” Nicky said. “They’re now being penalised for not meeting the threshold in 2022-23 when legally they didn’t have to – and they didn’t know they had to.”