Residents in a historic Welsh village have claimed it has become a ‘ghost town’ after nearly half its residents moved out due to rent hikes by new landlords.

The village of Aberllefenni in Gwynedd, North Wales, was built for miners at a former slate mine dating back to the 16th century.

But it was snapped up for £1m by a firm of London property developers run by a millionaire couple whom villagers have accused of ‘killing’ their community spirit.

Most of the 16 former quarrymen’s houses and cottages have now been left empty after tenants were forced out by rent rises of up to 60 per cent by Walsh Investment Properties.

Dog walker Emlyn Jones, 53, said: ‘It’s a real shame what’s happened to the village.

‘We had to say goodbye to a lot of people who made the village a happy place.

‘The spirit of the village has been destroyed. We must have lost half the people as the rents have gone up so much.

‘The developers must really regret it as the houses are now empty. It’s very sad’.

Solar energy worker Josh McNeilly, 54, lives in one of the stone quarrymen cottages but does not think his new landlords are greedy.

He has seen his rent increase to £550 from £330 for his two-bed home.

Speaking as he walked through the village, Josh said: ‘I think the rents were low so they’re not being greedy.

‘And the houses had become a bit rundown and there was mould so money needed to be spent on them.

‘No-one was forced out but some people could just not afford the new rent,

‘However it is very sad that so many people have moved out. It’s become a bit of a ghost town which is tragic.

‘Everyone knew each other and there was a great community spirit.

‘People moved here just to be close to friends or family but that’s gone now.

‘But the landlord’s spending money on the houses now so when they’re done up, hopefully people will move back in.’

Sara Lewis, 56, had staged a sit-in protest after becoming enraged that her rent had risen.

However she has now stopped her protest after the landlord backed down and froze her rent.

Speaking as she loaded her car outside her cottage, she said: ‘The community spirit has been killed off.

‘It’s so quiet now – it is a Welsh ghost town in the middle of the mountains.

‘It’s devastating that this is happened. I hope it will change but we could all be evicted.’

The village is surrounded by mountainside countryside at the foot of the Dyfi forest and is situated just south of Snowdonia.

It was previously owned by the family of John Lloyd, of Wincilate Limited, since the 1950s.The centre of the village features a row of nine terraced houses but just three are now occupied.

They were built in the 1700s as accommodation for quarrymen and their families.

There are also additional cottages and some houses which are privately owned.

The rent rose by 3 per cent per year under the previous owners – some have lived in their homes for more than 20 years.

The slate community first went on sale in 2016 with a price of £1.5m but there were no takers.

Chris Walsh, of Walsh Investment Properties, said: ‘Most of the properties have been paying a low rent for a number of years, unfortunately this is not sustainable in the current economy.

‘We feel it is fair and reasonable to charge a market rent. All properties were surveyed in January 2023 to enable us to plan any required upgrade works.’