First time buyers and those who cannot afford a house on the open market are being encouraged to apply for support from Isle of Anglesey County Council.

Its Anglesey Homebuy Scheme is now using £390,000 secured through the second home Council Tax premium to help local residents get on the property ladder.

Welsh local authorities were given powers to introduce an extra Council Tax charge on dwellings occupied periodically – second homes or long-term empty properties - on 1 April 2017.

Anglesey council is making the best possible use of the premium and available Welsh Government funding. It has already committed nearly £1.5m to council tax premium fund projects to meet the local housing demand as well as help first time buyers.

The Anglesey Homebuy Scheme will help build on this success by providing extra support for local residents in the form of an equity loan to purchase a home.

The Anglesey Homebuy Scheme is available to:

• local first-time buyers who are finding it difficult to buy a home
• those who may have previously owned a property but are not currently a homeowner
• existing shared equity property owners who need a more suitable home

The scheme would see the council providing an applicant - unable to gain a sufficient mortgage to buy on the open market – with an equity loan enabling them to buy a home without having to fund its entire cost. The house would then be a shared equity property. Applicants would need to have at least 5% deposit to access the scheme. If or when the property is sold, the owner would repay the council’s equity share based on the council's equity share percentage at the time of future sale.

Anglesey’s children, youth and housing portfolio holder, Councillor Gary Pritchard, explained, “The housing crisis and its effect on local residents being able to afford to live on the island is one of the biggest issues we hear about when talking to people on the doorstep.”

"Being able to use the Council Tax premium to help keep our promise of ensuring everyone has somewhere to call home is fundamental to our vision for Anglesey.”

The council’s housing service has a statutory responsibility to assess housing need and lead on partnership working to provide quality housing.

Head of Housing Services, Ned Michael, said, “Our Housing Strategy 2022-2027 continues to play an integral role as we work independently, and with key partners, to meet the needs of our local residents now and to the future.”

“As well as building many new council homes, we’re creating homes for more families by buying back old council-owned properties and bringing many long-term empty homes back into use.”

Council Leader, Councillor Llinos Medi, added, “The Council Tax premium provides an unique opportunity to respond to the current housing crisis. Our aim is to support local people to live in affordable quality homes in their own communities. We want to ensure that everyone has the right to call somewhere home.”

Further information about the Anglesey Homebuy Scheme is available on the Tai Teg website https://taiteg.org.uk/en/register and a copy of Isle of Anglesey County Council’s Shared Equity Policy is available on its website.

Ends 19 June 2023

Notes for editors

Earlier this year, Anglesey council’s previous Executive raised the level of Council Tax premium on second homes to 75% with an intention to increase the premium on second homes to 100% by April 2024. A further decision from the Executive will be required to increase the premium on second homes to 100% by April 2024. The empty homes levy currently stands at 100%.

Future funding allocated to the Anglesey Homebuy Scheme will depend on the income generated through the second home and empty home Council Tax premium.

Tai Teg is a partnership between Isle of Anglesey County Council and Gwynedd Council and their partners in the housing industry dedicated to providing homes for local people.