Only two homes sold at Anglesey estate as second-home rules bite

Only two of the 16 completed homes at Parc Delfryn in Brynteg, near Benllech on Anglesey, had sold more than two years after construction finished, and the developer has now sought permission to let the properties become permanent homes. The estate sits beside Storws Wen golf club and was built as modern three-bedroom, turnkey homes in 2020 and 2021, but its original occupancy restrictions meant the 14 unsold houses could only be used as holiday homes.

The first 20 homes in the wider development sold quickly before the tax changes that hit second homes and holiday lets, but the remaining houses were hit by higher transaction tax, bigger council-tax bills and a sharper public backlash against holiday homes. Simon Barrie James of PLanD development consultants said those early sales came before tax changes that had "dramatically affected the local property market."

The estate’s asking price was cut more than six times over about two and a half years. By summer 2025, the homes were being marketed at £250,000, and one listing posted on March 22, 2026 showed an asking price of £269,950. At least 37 local families had enquired about buying the homes as full-time family houses, but the restrictions kept them locked into holiday use until the current application to convert them for ordinary residential occupation.

Welsh Government guidance allows councils to charge a council-tax premium of up to 300% on second homes and long-term empty properties from April 1, 2023, while Isle of Anglesey County Council’s current second-home premium adds 100% to the standard bill, taking the total to 200%. Self-catering properties must also be available for 252 days and actually let for 182 days a year to pay non-domestic rates instead of council tax.

About 10% of the island’s housing stock was classified as second homes or holiday homes by late 2023, and Census 2021-based data show Gwynedd and the Isle of Anglesey had the highest rates of holiday-home users in England and Wales.