English: Thank you very much. Gwynedd Council introduced a premium on long-term vacant property in April 2018. Before that, we decided to eradicate the discount on vacant property, back in 2009. And that was as a result of the housing strategy, and one of the main features of the housing strategy in Gwynedd at the time was to aim to decrease the number of vacant properties in the county and bring those properties back into use. And the feeling was, when we got rid of the discount, that keeping it would have been an unfortunate incentive and would counteract the strategy. So, when the opportunity came to levy the premium - . One of the features of Gwynedd is that we also look at it in the context of the premium on second homes. As it happens, in Gwynedd, we have many more second homes than we do vacant properties, although the number of vacant properties we have is over 1,000 too. And the feeling was, to continue with that aspect, or attitude, of bringing vacant properties back into use, levying that premium on long-term vacant property at the same time as we were doing that for second homes would make sense. Because the feeling that we had in Gwynedd was that, if we treated them differently, when the only legislative difference between long-term empty properties and second homes is that one is furnished and one isn't - or is substantially unfurnished - the feeling was that it would be too easy to shift from one to the other - to move a home from being a vacant property into a second home, just by furnishing it. So that's why we came to the conclusion that the wisest course of action, in order to ensure that our housing strategy would be implemented, and that we treated long-term vacant properties consistently with second homes, was to levy the premiums at the same time.
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr iawn. Fe gyflwynodd Cyngor Gwynedd y premiwm ar eiddo gwag hirdymor yn Ebrill 2018. Cyn hynny, fe wnaethom ni benderfynu diddymu'r disgownt ar eiddo gwag, yn ôl yn 2009. Ac mi roedd hynny'n ganlyniad i strategaeth dai, ac un o brif nodweddion strategaeth dai Gwynedd ar y pryd oedd lleihau'r niferoedd o eiddo gwag a oedd yn y sir, a dod â'r eiddo gwag yna yn ôl i ddefnydd. Ac felly y teimlad oedd, pan oeddem ni'n diddymu'r disgownt, y buasai cadw'r disgownt wedi bod yn gymhelliant anffodus ac yn gweithio'n erbyn y strategaeth. Felly, pan ddaeth y cyfle i godi'r premiwm - . Un o'r nodweddion sydd gan Wynedd, wrth gwrs, ydy ein bod ni'n edrych ar y peth hefyd yng nghyd-destun y premiwm ar ail gartrefi. Ac, yn digwydd bod yng Ngwynedd, mae gennym ni lawer mwy o ail gartrefi nag sydd gennym ni o eiddo gwag, er mae'r nifer o eiddo gwag sydd gennym ni dros 1,000 hefyd. A'r teimlad oedd, i barhau efo'r agwedd yna o drio dod ag eiddo gwag yn ôl i ddefnydd, y byddai codi'r premiwm ar eiddo gwag hirdymor yr un pryd ag yr oeddem ni'n codi premiwm ar ail gartrefi yn gwneud synnwyr. Oherwydd, y teimlad oedd gennym ni yng Ngwynedd oedd, os oeddech chi'n trin y ddau'n wahanol, yr unig wahaniaeth yn y Ddeddf rhwng eiddo gwag hirdymor ac ail gartref ydy bod un wedi ei ddodrefnu a'r llall ddim - neu wedi ei ddodrefnu'n sylweddol - a'r teimlad oedd gennym ni y buasai hi'n rhy hawdd i newid o un i'r llall - newid tŷ o fod yn eiddo gwag i fod yn ail gartref. Ac felly dyna pam y daethom ni wedyn i'r canlyniad mai'r ffordd ddoethaf oedd, er mwyn sicrhau bod ein strategaeth dai ni yn parhau, a'n bod ni'n trin eiddo gwag hirdymor yn gyson efo'r ail gartrefi, ein bod ni'n codi'r premiwm yr un pryd.