Council wants new homes to be restricted to Welsh speakers only
September 4, 2024
Council wants new homes to be restricted to Welsh speakers only
by GDW312
31 comments
It’s Botwnnog council
Crazy to think I wouldn’t be able to purchase a house in the country I was born in and grew up in because I was born in an area with poor Welsh language provision and education.
I’m happy with almost all efforts to support and revitalise the Welsh language but this seems like a step too far.
Ffs. These are Welsh houses, for Welsh speakers!
We’ll have no English speakers here!
Legal for them to do?
FFS: these are affordable homes that will be managed by a social landlord in an area where there is concern that second homes are pushing up prices and reducing affordability for locals, and the Council is objecting because “there is no local need.” Unless minimum wage gets you a mortgage on a three-bed home, I’m sceptical to say the least.
If there are only four people on the housing list, it’s probably because the rest of the population has given up.
Rural areas are typically under-skilled in their provision of jobs and anything that enables people to stay in the community and work is good for the social fabric.
I’m sure these councillors see themselves as progressive and liberal but if there were a Reform-led local council in, say, Grimsby, we would be outraged and mocking this stance.
I see no problem with this – keeps the English Boomers from snapping them all up to use as holiday homes/buy-to-let rentals
So my initial reaction here is “this is bad” but actually reading the detail and nuance I’m actually ok with it. The absolute devastation of the Gaeltacht areas in Ireland over the past 200-odd years has absolutely devastated the Irish language. There should absolutely be the ability for Cymunedau Cymraeg to protect their cultural identity and integrity. We only have to look at a very close neighbour to see how failure to protect the language heartlands can impact the long term prospects of the language.
I do however worry about the precendent this could start and the slippery slope it could be at the top of. If this is allowed can a predominantly Jewish area in Wales prevent non-Jewish folks from buying houses there (switch around the religions – it’s irrelevant which religion) does this open the door to religious/ethnic/language-based “ghettoisation”.
Sounds like a good thing really! When the Welsh speaking heartlands are under so much pressure due to 2nd home owners and English retirees, I think drastic action is needed or you risk losing a whole subset of culture and identity!
I don’t mind this. This is a primarily Welsh speaking area: Welsh should be treated as the majority language in places like this one. People get up in arms about people who move to the UK and don’t speak English, for example.
Exactly the same amount of outrage is reasonable when people move to majority Welsh speaking areas and don’t learn Welsh. (Or if they move to Gaelic speaking parts of Scotland and refuse to learn Gaelic!)
It is perfectly reasonable for the council to want to protect the culture and character of the local area, as well as preventing the new development from immediately becoming holiday homes or Airbnbs.
There are English language requirements for people migrating to the UK, for example, which are considered to be perfectly valid entry requirements by most people.
I don’t think policies like this proposed development are appropriate for all of Wales, but there are places where they are, and this is one of them.
I can understand people thinking this seems like a harsh idea. But what’s stopping anyone learning Welsh?
Wonder how people would feel if Germany introduced this policy in their own country though š¤
Technically discrimination so, good luck with that.
Botwnnog Council: ‘what level of nationalism are you on?’
Random Person: ‘oh I don’t know; about 5 or 6’
Botwnnog Council: ‘you are like little baby; watch this’
The idea that a Welsh person needs to speak Welsh to qualify is ridiculous and discriminatory
Could be a good idea. Nothing wrong with wanting Welsh people getting an opportunity exclusively for them. Especially in housing.
Homes where I live are advertised only in England as they know itās too expensive for local people. The next door to me is a one bedroom that sold for 250k and the buyers are from London.
Legally unenforcable. You can’t discriminate on the basis of language. Arguably a language can form part of an ethnic identity. And I woukd strongl argue, that giving people somewhere to live would trump any claims of just wanting “welsh speakers” and how would that apply to someon who is Welsh, but doesnt speak Welsh or is bi-lingual?
The sentiment of keeping language alive is a good one, but it ceases to be when you use it as a means to discriminate.
Extremism needs to be resisted whereever it appears.
Fuck me, another reminder that Wales doesn’t have any serious governance on a national or local level.
Increase Welsh learning provisions? Nah.. Restrict housing based on language? Great idea!
Remember a month ago during the rioting, when people were saying Wales doesn’t have a discrimination problem like England? If this happened there people would be losing their minds over racism and xenophobia
Crikey. Lots of comments. Hard to take seriously as it would probably contravene law.
Seems a bit cruel. Have you seen how shite the new builds are?!
Jesus fucking Christ.
Anyone defending this – flip the script.
Would you still be singing the same tune?
I’m not Welsh; I’m English. But, if a council in England was trying to restrict houses to only people that could actually speak fluent English, people would be losing their minds.
This is a local shop for local people. There’s nothing for you here.
Fluent but under 20mph
Bell ends!
My first house in Cornwall had a covenant on that it could only be sold To a local who had been resident for more than 5 years. Thankfully my girlfriend at the time fulfilled that, but I didnāt. That small house was last sold for Ā£250k!!! I guess there was a time limit on the covenant
I can see how it can help but I doubt it is enforceable long term. Watch prices crash and wales become even more backward as no one invests here.
(I live in S wales now. Came up for my job so if such a thing existed I wouldnāt have been able to)
Good
I suppose my grandfather was ādegenerative forceā when he decided not to pass down anything Welsh culture wise to his English-born grandchildren š«”
The people commenting on this have no idea how damaging it is to the Welsh language and Welsh-speaking communities in the LlÅ·n Peninsula when non-Welsh speaking home owners move into villages like these.
There are countless examples of āghost villagesā in the LlÅ·n Peninsula where too many 2nd homes are owned and no one lives there during most of the year. This has a serious knock on effect on the community and language.
To make matters worse, local people are continually priced out of being able to purchase a home so we have an influx of people leaving these villages to look for alternatives further away.
Soā¦as the people of Wales – are you happy seeing this happening to your fellow Welshmen/women in North West Wales?
We are talking about 18 houses, thatās all.
Eww. This is ugly discrimination. There’d be uproar if it was reversed.
Just put a covenant in that restricts the houses being subletted/holiday-homed. There’s many ways you can protect housing for local communities.
As a Welsh speaker this is fuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked!
I agree with this to be honest. The Welsh language needs all the help it can get and a lot of these Welsh speaking communities get flooded with English people who refuse to learn the language and threaten the language further. There are no shortages of English-speaking places they can go to in Wales.
31 comments
It’s Botwnnog council
Crazy to think I wouldn’t be able to purchase a house in the country I was born in and grew up in because I was born in an area with poor Welsh language provision and education.
I’m happy with almost all efforts to support and revitalise the Welsh language but this seems like a step too far.
Ffs. These are Welsh houses, for Welsh speakers!
We’ll have no English speakers here!
Legal for them to do?
FFS: these are affordable homes that will be managed by a social landlord in an area where there is concern that second homes are pushing up prices and reducing affordability for locals, and the Council is objecting because “there is no local need.” Unless minimum wage gets you a mortgage on a three-bed home, I’m sceptical to say the least.
If there are only four people on the housing list, it’s probably because the rest of the population has given up.
Rural areas are typically under-skilled in their provision of jobs and anything that enables people to stay in the community and work is good for the social fabric.
I’m sure these councillors see themselves as progressive and liberal but if there were a Reform-led local council in, say, Grimsby, we would be outraged and mocking this stance.
I see no problem with this – keeps the English Boomers from snapping them all up to use as holiday homes/buy-to-let rentals
So my initial reaction here is “this is bad” but actually reading the detail and nuance I’m actually ok with it. The absolute devastation of the Gaeltacht areas in Ireland over the past 200-odd years has absolutely devastated the Irish language. There should absolutely be the ability for Cymunedau Cymraeg to protect their cultural identity and integrity. We only have to look at a very close neighbour to see how failure to protect the language heartlands can impact the long term prospects of the language.
I do however worry about the precendent this could start and the slippery slope it could be at the top of. If this is allowed can a predominantly Jewish area in Wales prevent non-Jewish folks from buying houses there (switch around the religions – it’s irrelevant which religion) does this open the door to religious/ethnic/language-based “ghettoisation”.
Sounds like a good thing really! When the Welsh speaking heartlands are under so much pressure due to 2nd home owners and English retirees, I think drastic action is needed or you risk losing a whole subset of culture and identity!
I don’t mind this. This is a primarily Welsh speaking area: Welsh should be treated as the majority language in places like this one. People get up in arms about people who move to the UK and don’t speak English, for example.
Exactly the same amount of outrage is reasonable when people move to majority Welsh speaking areas and don’t learn Welsh. (Or if they move to Gaelic speaking parts of Scotland and refuse to learn Gaelic!)
It is perfectly reasonable for the council to want to protect the culture and character of the local area, as well as preventing the new development from immediately becoming holiday homes or Airbnbs.
There are English language requirements for people migrating to the UK, for example, which are considered to be perfectly valid entry requirements by most people.
I don’t think policies like this proposed development are appropriate for all of Wales, but there are places where they are, and this is one of them.
I can understand people thinking this seems like a harsh idea. But what’s stopping anyone learning Welsh?
Wonder how people would feel if Germany introduced this policy in their own country though š¤
Technically discrimination so, good luck with that.
Botwnnog Council: ‘what level of nationalism are you on?’
Random Person: ‘oh I don’t know; about 5 or 6’
Botwnnog Council: ‘you are like little baby; watch this’
The idea that a Welsh person needs to speak Welsh to qualify is ridiculous and discriminatory
Could be a good idea. Nothing wrong with wanting Welsh people getting an opportunity exclusively for them. Especially in housing.
Homes where I live are advertised only in England as they know itās too expensive for local people. The next door to me is a one bedroom that sold for 250k and the buyers are from London.
Legally unenforcable. You can’t discriminate on the basis of language. Arguably a language can form part of an ethnic identity. And I woukd strongl argue, that giving people somewhere to live would trump any claims of just wanting “welsh speakers” and how would that apply to someon who is Welsh, but doesnt speak Welsh or is bi-lingual?
The sentiment of keeping language alive is a good one, but it ceases to be when you use it as a means to discriminate.
Extremism needs to be resisted whereever it appears.
Fuck me, another reminder that Wales doesn’t have any serious governance on a national or local level.
Increase Welsh learning provisions? Nah..
Restrict housing based on language? Great idea!
Remember a month ago during the rioting, when people were saying Wales doesn’t have a discrimination problem like England? If this happened there people would be losing their minds over racism and xenophobia
Crikey. Lots of comments. Hard to take seriously as it would probably contravene law.
Seems a bit cruel. Have you seen how shite the new builds are?!
Jesus fucking Christ.
Anyone defending this – flip the script.
Would you still be singing the same tune?
I’m not Welsh; I’m English. But, if a council in England was trying to restrict houses to only people that could actually speak fluent English, people would be losing their minds.
This is a local shop for local people. There’s nothing for you here.
Fluent but under 20mph
Bell ends!
My first house in Cornwall had a covenant on that it could only be sold
To a local who had been resident for more than 5 years. Thankfully my girlfriend at the time fulfilled that, but I didnāt.
That small house was last sold for Ā£250k!!! I guess there was a time limit on the covenant
I can see how it can help but I doubt it is enforceable long term. Watch prices crash and wales become even more backward as no one invests here.
(I live in S wales now. Came up for my job so if such a thing existed I wouldnāt have been able to)
Good
I suppose my grandfather was ādegenerative forceā when he decided not to pass down anything Welsh culture wise to his English-born grandchildren š«”
The people commenting on this have no idea how damaging it is to the Welsh language and Welsh-speaking communities in the LlÅ·n Peninsula when non-Welsh speaking home owners move into villages like these.
There are countless examples of āghost villagesā in the LlÅ·n Peninsula where too many 2nd homes are owned and no one lives there during most of the year. This has a serious knock on effect on the community and language.
To make matters worse, local people are continually priced out of being able to purchase a home so we have an influx of people leaving these villages to look for alternatives further away.
Soā¦as the people of Wales – are you happy seeing this happening to your fellow Welshmen/women in North West Wales?
We are talking about 18 houses, thatās all.
Eww. This is ugly discrimination. There’d be uproar if it was reversed.
Just put a covenant in that restricts the houses being subletted/holiday-homed. There’s many ways you can protect housing for local communities.
As a Welsh speaker this is fuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked!
I agree with this to be honest. The Welsh language needs all the help it can get and a lot of these Welsh speaking communities get flooded with English people who refuse to learn the language and threaten the language further. There are no shortages of English-speaking places they can go to in Wales.