'We need a Mr Bates figure' as bid to derail holiday home rules suffers setback

Housing campaigners have welcomed a judge’s decision that clears to way for new planning rules for holiday homes in Wales. In a bid to derail the new rules, critics had raised more than £70,000 to launch a judicial review.

In September, Cyngor Gwynedd became the first local authority in Wales to introduce an Article 4 Direction. This requires people to secure planning permission if they want to convert their properties into second homes or holiday lets.

This week, a judge rejected a bid for a judicial review by People of Gwynedd Against Article 4 (PGAA4), an online campaign group. Gwynedd’s council, the judge concluded, had reached the decision following a “robust and thorough exercise”.

READ MORE: National Park ditches 'Snowdonia' entirely for Eryri in its official logo

READ MORE: Seven places in Wales where new 4G mobile services have just been switched on

Article 4 was only one of several planning tools at the council’s disposal and officers were “entitled to proceed as they did” in bringing in the Direction. The judge acknowledged council reports saying there would be only “minimal effect on the value of dwellings on the market".

PGAA4 said it was bitterly disappointed and legal advisers are currently assessing the merits of appealing the decision, which must be launched imminently. It claims the measure will devalue every property in the affected area and make houses harder to sell.

One member of the group, which includes single-property homeowners living in Wales, said it now needed a “Mr Bates" figure to correct the perceived injustice. “Utterly devastating,” she said. “We need to get this in front of the producers of Mr Bates v The Post Office. This is time to fight back.

"Currently, our main lifetime assets are doomed. We really need to find a Mr Bates who will fight our cause and give us back our legal property rights. Scandalous at the highest degree.” Join the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone

Cymdeithas yr Iaith (Welsh Language Society) welcomed the ruling and said it now expects other local authorities to introduce Article 4 Directions. Eryri National Park is looking to follow suit in June 2025, while other councils have adopted a wait-and-see approach.

Dr Jeff Smith, chair of the society’s communities group, said Gwynedd is facing a housing crisis that threatens to undermine its communities and the Welsh language. Rising property prices, driven by the county’s popularity as a holiday destination, was forcing local families and young people to leave the area, he said.

“Starting to intervene in the open housing market is part of the solution,” said Dr Smith. “However, second homes are merely one symptom of the broader failure of the open housing market.

“The only way to truly solve the crisis is to establish the legal right to adequate housing locally through a Property Act. The would empower our communities and ensure that housing is treated as a community need and not as commercial assets.”

PGAA4 claims that Welsh Government tourism and housing policies are causing the property market to stagnate, with houses not selling and locals not buying. John Brynmor Hughes, an independent councillor for Abersoch and Llanengan ward, said policies like Article 4 were also causing a downturn in local trade.

“I was talking to a takeaway owner earlier today and business is down,” he told BBC Wales. “People who come here now are saying, ‘Well if they don’t want us, why should we support them?’ Every business here in Abersoch is seeing a downturn.” Get all the latest Gwynedd news by signing up to our newsletter - sent every Tuesday

Find properties for sale or let near you