A Reform UK MP bought an £۸۰۰,۰۰۰ second home on a picturesque Welsh island two days after raising concerns in parliament about the impact of second homes on rural communities.
Sarah Pochin completed the purchase of a Grade-II listed property on the southern coast of Anglesey (Ynys Môn).
The MP for Runcorn and Helsby in Cheshire bought the property two days after she submitted a written question on ۱۵ June to the housing minister Matthew Pennycook, according to the Will Hayward newsletter.
Pochin asked Pennycook “what assessment he has made of the potential impact of second home ownership on housing availability in coastal and rural communities”.
Pennycook replied: “Excessive concentrations of short-term lets and second homes impact on the availability and affordability of homes for local residents to buy and rent, as well as local services.”
According to the Land Registry, the purchase was made jointly with Pochin’s husband, Jonathan. The couple, who have submitted plans at Anglesey county council for changes to the property, retain ownership of another home in Cheshire.
Anglesey, famous for its coastline and ancient Celtic and Roman history, has become a hotspot for second home ownership in recent years. The island had the largest increase in holiday home users among local authorities from ۲۰۱۱ to ۲۰۲۱, according to the Office for National Statistics.
As of March ۲۰۲۶, Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn (Anglesey county council) recorded ۲,۶۳۵ furnished homes that were not an individual’s sole or main residence.
The local authority introduced a council tax premium on second homes in ۲۰۱۶. Initially set at ۲۵% on top of the standard rate, it has since risen incrementally to the current ۱۰۰% premium, to address local housing affordability.
Critics have argued that second homes and short-term holiday rentals can adversely affect local communities by reducing housing supply, inflating property prices and putting a strain on infrastructure.
Robin Wyn Williams, the deputy leader of Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn, said: “It has a longer-term impact on things like the provision of schools and other local services. That community spirit gets killed off. We’ve seen it in the likes of Rhosneigr, where it appears to have lost its identity because it is very much a village of second homes in the main these days.
“It tends to be more middle-aged and older people, and that then can bring with it pressures on our adult services. Obviously then that has an impact on the situation whereby families are being displaced from certain parts of the island. And then you just end up in a situation where you have fewer children in the community and that has an impact on schools.”
Pochin became Reform UK’s first female MP after winning the Runcorn and Helsby byelection in May ۲۰۲۵. She previously served as a Conservative mayor and a local councillor on Cheshire East council, latterly as an independent, before joining Nigel Farage’s party.
Reform did not respond to a request for comment.
