There are hundreds of empty homes in Carmarthenshire at a time of significant demand for housing in the county.
Empty homes are defined as homes which have been empty for six months or more and are logged by Carmarthenshire Council based on council tax and revenue data.
There were 1,805 of them at the end of March this year, a council report said.
If all of them were occupied 4,061 people would have a roof over their head based on average occupancy levels in Wales of 2.25 people per household.
At the same time the council has 3,561 households waiting for housing. This includes council house tenants who have requested a transfer. Demand is particularly high for affordable one and two-bed properties.
One councillor said some private sector homes in his Llanelli ward have been empty “for decades” and he was concerned some might be going under the radar.
Homes can be unoccupied for long periods for financial, legal, health and other reasons.
Owners have an incentive not to leave properties empty for too long in the county as there is a 50% council tax premium, with exceptions, for homes that are unoccupied and unfurnished for at least a year, a 100% premium for those that are vacant for two to five years and a 200% premium for those empty for longer.
“There have been empty homes in my ward for decades to be honest,” said Tyisha councillor Terry Davies at a meeting of the homes and regeneration scrutiny committee. He said he was keen to ensure they were on the council’s list.
Council officer Gareth Williams said his team was notified of homes which had been empty for six months by council tax colleagues, and that a dataset of such properties by ward was being explored for councillors for them to feed into.
He said: “As officers we are not always privy to local intelligence and that’s really important when we are trying to establish ownership details for these properties.”
Mr Williams said the council intervened when empty properties attracted anti-social behaviour or were a public health risk.
Cllr Davies said councillors often wondered if the council had logged all the empty private homes they saw while walking around their wards. “We could be missing quite a few,” he said.
At the time of the 2021 census Carmarthenshire had 88,473 homes, 75% of which were owner-occupied.
It’s the fourth most populated county in Wales and has the third highest number of empty homes that are chargeable for council tax purposes behind Swansea and Rhondda Cynon Taf, according to Welsh Government figures.
The council wants to reduce the number of empty homes and has been doing so with measures including working with families of owners who are in care, buying empty homes, administering loans and grants, and taking action if a property is in a bad condition.
The committee report said a lot of work was done behind the scenes and that 246 empty private homes were brought back into use during 2025-26 through direct intervention, many more than had been expected.
It said the housing team tasked with this work prioritised advice and engagement but that owners who didn’t respond or make meaningful progress would be subject to enforcement action.
There are only 3 thousand on the waiting list, because people are actively being told, no you can’t apply, look for something private.
Or are only placed on the list to qualify for affordable housing, even if they can’t apply as no mortgage capacity.
Wendy Mathias They should be helping people to downsize
There can’t be that many houses because there isn’t much on my list as i am on a waiting list and I can only see 2 at a time but there not on their all the time and I am looking for a 3 bedroom. I have a 2 bedroom house already. Wich it can go to someone that is looking to down size