‘I wanted my children to grow up here’: how Airbnb is ruining local communities in north Wales

Families in Gwynedd county are being evicted as swathes of property are converted to short-term rentals for the tourism industry - and the situation being played out across the country. Can anything be done to help?

Sitting at her kitchen table, a shellshocked Cherylyn Houston reflects on an ordeal that is finally over. It all started in September 2021. Houston, a 42-year-old secondary school teacher, opened the door to find her landlady on her doorstep. She said: I'm really sorry. My circumstances have changed and I need to give you six months' notice. I can get four times as much money on Airbnb and I'd like you to leave, ideally by March, so I can start the new season.'"

At the time, Houston was living in a four-bedroom cottage in the village of Dinorwig, in the county of Gwynedd, north Wales. Houston, her two teenage children and their stepfather had lived there since January 2020 and never been late on their 800-a-month rent. She pulls out her phone. Christmas was heaven," she sighs, pausing on an image of the spacious kitchen with a flagstone floor and log-burning stove. You'd just snuggle down and close the curtains."