Following years of community development work, Menter Iaith Conwy has received funding from Eryri National Park to employ a community-led housing officer in the parish of Penmachno.
Penmachno Hub
For several years, Menter Iaith Conwy has collaborated to establish a local committee that has evolved into the “Hwb y Llan” organization. This group has gone on to organize social activities in the village and successfully secured Lottery funding to renovate the old village school into a new community center.
Despite this, there is a sense that the good work done by Hwb y Llan is being undermined by broader economic issues and the housing market.
Current Housing Situation
To try to address this, funding from Eryri National Park has enabled the creation of a new group to own homes on behalf of the community and rent them at reasonable rates. Arfon Hughes was appointed to work two days a week for two years as a community-led housing officer starting in September 2024. In September 2025, further funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund was received to employ him for an additional 1.5 days per week until January 2026.
A housing needs survey commissioned in 2021 stated that 37% of homes in the Bro Machno area are holiday homes or vacant. The Penmachno Housing Partnership sees the main way to support these communities as empowering them to form a community group and helping them raise capital to purchase properties that come on the market and rent them locally—or consider renting some as holiday homes to fund further developments that would benefit the community.
Bro Machno is seen as a strong community with an excellent tradition of caring for one another from cradle to grave. However, the pressure of the housing market is causing concern. There are 446 household spaces in Bro Machno, but with a quarter of homes beyond the reach of the next generation, the viability threshold of the community is rapidly approaching. There is a race to try to save the village center, which is emptying due to a mix of vacant homes, holiday homes, and second homes. With housing stock in Bro Machno being sold to the highest bidder, the foundation of community life and the Welsh language in this rural area is increasingly unstable and uncertain.
51.5% of households are completely priced out of the housing market. For those in the lowest income quartile, the percentage is even higher. With the median income of the lowest quartile in the area at £14,600 and the income needed to afford an entry-level priced home at £30,943, buying a home on the open market is not an option for many.
Penmachno Housing Partnership
Cymdeithas Dai Bro Machno Cyfyngedig (Bro Machno Housing Association Ltd) was registered in September 2025 as a Community Benefit Society with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The officer will conduct a survey of the community’s housing needs, identifying and matching those in need of housing with available homes, with the intention of purchasing them to house those who respond.
Work will include identifying homes to purchase and financing them through various means including loans, grants, and share offers.
To make this work, a portion of the capital will need to be raised through share offers, followed by exploring loans from WCVA (Wales Council for Voluntary Action), the Welsh Government, and others.
Gwynedd Housing Association owns property in the village, and the community is keen to collaborate with them to discuss the possibility of transferring the house in their possession to Bro Machno Housing Association if it aligns with their aims and objectives.
We believe that successfully purchasing one property would boost community confidence in the new group and begin the process of revitalizing the village center and exploring long-term plans.
We also hope to inspire other communities to undertake similar initiatives.
For further discussion and more information about all of this, please contact Arfon Hughes, Community Housing Facilitator – Penmachno.