Tenants evicted to allow holiday lets, says Senedd member

One of the lodges which is part of the Bodorgan Estate

Country estate tenants on Anglesey have been asked to leave "so that their homes can be turned into holiday lets", according to the local Senedd member.

Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth said Bodorgan Estate tenants say "long-term tenants" are being evicted so their homes can become holiday accommodation.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said he was concerned by what he had heard and wanted to see further evidence.

Bodorgan Estate has been contacted for comment.

The estate includes many farms and properties on the island and was home to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when the Duke worked as an RAF helicopter pilot.

It is owned by George Meyrick, who also owns the Hinton Admiral estate in Hampshire.

Eight properties are listed as holiday homes on the estate's website.

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During First Minister's Questions in the Senedd, Mr ap Iorwerth said: "Through historic privilege the Bodorgan Estate is a very important landlord.

"The estate owns many houses, but I've spoken to tenants who say they have been told to leave so that their homes can be turned into holiday lets."

Rhun ap Iorwerth raised the matter in the Welsh Parliament on Tuesday

Mr ap Iorwerth compared the alleged practice to Scotland's Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries, where landowners evicted crofters from the land to make way for intensive livestock grazing.

"On Anglesey in the 21st century it's tourism, but the principle is the same," he said.

In response, Mr Drakeford said he was concerned about what he had heard from Mr ap Iorwerth and wanted to see further evidence.

"People cannot simply be evicted by being asked to leave, there are rules and legal requirements that landlords have to abide by in all sectors," he said.