A set of townhouses that sit just 50 yards from Rhosneigr beach struggled to sell when they were first built. Despite promising idyllic sunset vistas over the sea, three decades ago, the quaint village on Anglesey’s western coast failed to lure outsiders.
Back in 1996, Ynys Môn was a quite, isolated place with no internet and with visitors enduring lengthy drives. While it was a holiday spot for some families, it remained low-key, with average homes priced at just £50,836.
Fast forward to today, and Rhosneigr has transformed from an under-the-radar holiday spot to a highly sought-after playground for the super-rich. According to analysis by the Express’s data unit, the increase in property values in the village over the past three decades is second only to London.
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As of September 2024, average house prices have shot up to a staggering £679,000. Recently, when one seaside townhouse hit the market, Rhosneigr Property recorded a flurry of interest and was snapped up quickly.
The scenario repeats itself as even modest sea-view cottages are getting snatched within days. Local Nadine Moore, stationed behind the counter at Funsport surf shop, painted in a fetching shade of blue, can’t fathom the intense draw to the area, reports North Wales Live.
“I mean, it’s just like a small high street and some shops,” she remarked. “There’s not much here.”
Moore, along with many other villagers, can’t help but praise the area’s beauty despite its flaws. The 30 year old water sports aficionado felt an irresistible draw to Rhosneigr, a charm that even her global travels couldn’t match.
“It’s got a vibe to it,” she explained. “Even travelling to Australia and New Zealand [they weren’t like Rhosneigr].”
After five years in the village, Nadine has noticed it’s a hotspot for rubbing shoulders with the elite on the beach. “A lot of people come over and [their place in Rhosneigr] is not their only holiday home, they have a couple,” Moore revealed.
“You’ll meet like the owner of [a high street restaurant] or a housing corporation, every second person is usually quite a well-known figure.”
She likens the social fabric of the community to the Netflix series Outer Banks, where affluent seasonal visitors mingle with the local working class. Nadine added: “It’s like a surf town, so you get a lot of individuals who come here for the kitesurfing and windsurfing. They are [part of a] core that has either grown up here or moved for the water sport scene.”
“The water also attracts wealth from places like Chester or Manchester,” she continued, “rich individuals who come over here because they get to launch a powerboat and use the water quite luxuriously. They have beautiful homes that overlook a beach destination.”
The issue with attracting the super-rich who own multiple secondary properties is that they often remain vacant. This understandably irks full-time residents.
“The number of second homes is always an issue because the village in the winter is very quiet and some of the small businesses have closed down,” local councillor Derek Browne explains. “Generally people are not happy about it because it’s pricing local and young people out of the market.”
In 2023, the Welsh Language Society attributed the decline in Welsh speakers in the village to the abundance of second homes.
Just 27% of Rhosneigr’s population spoke the native dialect – almost half the number in neighbouring towns and one of the worst figures on Anglesey. “Rhoseignr [is] the epicentre of the second homes crisis, a symptom of the wider failure of the free market on housing to fulfil its purpose in providing adequate, affordable homes for local people,” the Society told North Wales Live.
Since those complaints were raised, the second-home crisis has been addressed with new powers given by the Welsh government to local authorities, allowing councils to charge a premium of up to 300% on second homes. On Anglesey, the council charges a premium of 100% in addition to the full council tax charge, making up a 200% premium.
Councillor Browne pointed out that while the legislation has resulted in properties being sold off, they didn’t end up with local purchasers. This is due to their high prices, alongside the surge in people working from home post-Covid, which has led individuals from across the UK to make places like Rhosneigr their main residence.
Among recent clients of local estate agency Rhosneigr Property is a family working in London who have chosen Anglesey as their new base, thanks to the possibilities of remote working. The agency’s owner, Daniel Fernandes, gets it why someone would be drawn to relocation, on a very personal level.
Having visited Rhosneigr when his Cheshire-born wife spent holidays there in her youth, he fell for the lifestyle upon arrival. Enchanted by his first sight of the bay and its surging waves, Fernandes said: “The weather was stunning and when I saw the bay with the waves rolling in I was just in awe.”
His enchantment grew as he experienced the local life, sharing, “Over the weekend I went to the bars and felt the buzz. We went that evening to a family barbecue and it was just like stepping into a different world.”
