The huge increase in visitor numbers to Wales, coupled with an expected increase in the number of people relocating to rural Wales following the coronavirus epidemic, has prompted major concerns about the additional pressures this will place on rural housing.
The potential impact on rural communities prompted the President to write to the Welsh Government highlighting the union’s concerns.
In the FUW President's letter, it states that the Welsh Government's guidance on rural enterprise dwellings in Technical Advisory Note (TAN) 6 marked a welcome move that has assisted many farming families. However, the housing pressures in our rural communities, including for farming families, agricultural workers, those retiring from agriculture - particularly tenant farmers - and others, continue to grow.
It points out that a major and growing influence on the availability and cost of rural housing for local families has been second-home ownership and tourism. In addition, differences between house prices and incomes in Welsh rural areas and other areas of the UK has also helped push Welsh rural house prices beyond the reach of an increasing number of our rural families.
The letter also points out that while tourism is an incredibly important industry for Wales - and for many FUW members - a balance must be struck, and that Welsh Government policies which place an excessive focus on encouraging tourism whilst undermining indigenous industries such as agriculture are a major concern.
Given the existing pressures on rural housing, and the degree to which these are likely to grow in the wake of the pandemic, the letter calls for radical action to secure the future housing of our rural families so they can continue to live and work in the communities of their forefathers, and for a committee to be established by Welsh Government to consider how such problems should be addressed.