María Dolores Corujo, the secretary of the Socialist party on Lanzarote, has criticised the Canarian Government for failing to take advantage of €90 million of possible rent subsidies from central government.
Corujo said that the regional government had failed to declare areas of the Canaries as “stressed residential zones” under the Housing Act, which would permit them to apply for up to €90 million of state aid.
She commented that in Lanzarote “we have rents that easily exceed 1,000 euros and many rising to between €1,100 and €1,800 per month. We have families who are forced to share housing, workers who rent a room because they cannot afford a whole house, and young people who, despite working, cannot become independent”.
The situation “no longer affects only people with few resources,” she continued. “We are talking about families with two salaries who have huge difficulties paying for housing, professionals who arrive in Lanzarote and cannot find a place to live, and people born here who are beginning to consider leaving because their own island has become inaccessible to them.”
Earlier this year, Canarian President Fernando Clavijo said that the declaration of stressed zones “wouldn’t solve anything”.
Declaring a stressed zone would allow local authorities to apply rent caps and introduce tax incentives for landlords to reduce rent, among other measures. While many socialist-run administrations in Spain have taken advantage of the offer, it has generally been refused by opposition parties.
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