Long-term tenants at a beauty parlor in Wales are being evicted so that their homes can be rented out on Airbnb for holidays, a local politician has claimed.
Families on the Isle of Anglesey would have gotten as little as 10 weeks notice to vacate properties they have lived in scenes similar to the “Highland clearances” for over 10 years.
The practice is leading to a housing shortage on the island, the Senedd heard last week.
The popular vacation destination is the latest to see a tidal wave of housing stock shifting from use by locals to vacationers, especially where they are fueled by Airbnb.
At one point, Cornwall had over 10,290 listings on the platform last summer, but only 69 available for short or long term rental on Rightmove.
High share of second homes
Anglesey has the highest percentage of second homes from anywhere in Wales.
Rhun ap Iorwerth, who represents the island in the Senedd, told the meeting that evidence shows that tenant evictions are increasing, especially in coastal areas where there is the greatest demand for holiday accommodation.
In particular, he criticized the Bodorgan Estate, the former landlord of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when he was an RAF search and rescue pilot on the island.
“By historical privilege, the Bodorgan Estate is a very important landlord,” he said, adding: “The estate owns many homes, but I’ve spoken to tenants who say they need to move out so their homes can be converted into vacation lets.
“In Scotland, intensive grazing led to the infamous Highland Clearances of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. On Anglesey, in the twenty-first century, it’s tourism, but the principle is the same.