‘It’s about keeping places alive’: Wales’s radical second-homes policy

Measures aim to preserve communities and keep more homes available for locals but critics say they are anti-tourist'

Mared Llywelyn Williams, a 29-year-old education officer at a heritage site on Pen Lln in north Wales would love to be able to afford her own home. But there's no chance," she says. A terraced house perfect for a first-time buyer goes for 300k, a one bedroom fisherman's cottage, 250,000. That's outside the price range for me and most young people here."

Llywelyn Williams left the Gwynedd village of Morfa Nefyn where she grew up for university, but after graduating wanted to return - and found she had no choice but to move back in with her family. Many of her contemporaries, even those with well-paid jobs - teachers, health professionals, lawyers - have left, squeezed out by second-home owners and property investors who have sent prices soaring.