Housing Crisis Continues to Deepen Across the Canary Islands

The study estimates that a single person in Las Palmas province, which comprises of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, would need to earn a net annual income of €25,800 in order to afford the average monthly mortgage payment on a studio apartment and still live comfortably. This does not include the 30% downpayment on the property.

The study is based on recommendations that expenditure on accommodation should not exceed 30% of income to guarantee a comfortable life, but in reality, many people are paying far more than that, up to 60% in many cases. The figures for Lanzarote are likely to be much higher than that of Las Palmas province, given strong demand here.

An increasing number of workers have decided that paying monthly instalments on a camper van offers a more affordable way of living, and certain parking areas on Lanzarote now look like unofficial trailer parks, with the obvious difference that trailer parks offer electricity and sanitation.

Last month, several temporary dwellings were removed from an abandoned hotel in Costa Teguise, as locals had complained of the lack of security. However, several of the occupants of the skeleton hotels are also working. The building in question has been an eyesore for 20 years, but it is reported that its owners now wish to develop it into another hotel.

Measures to alleviate the housing crisis on the islands are having little effect so far. The few social housing projects that have been carried out have barely scratched the surface of the problem, and the Canarian Holiday Rental Law, which has reduced the amount of holiday lets on the Canaries from 47,000 to 42,000, has had no effect on prices.

Last month saw protests against the crisis on the main islands, and housing associations are demanding more radical measures to address the problem. Among them are the declaration of “stressed zones” and the application of rent caps, which have up until now been consistently opposed by the Canarian Government.

Protestors are also calling for large multiple property owners, such as banks or “vulture funds”, to be to be subjected to “forceful” tax strategies, such as the penalisation of vacant properties, that will incentivise them to create affordable rentals or social housing.

However, no such measures are currently being considered by the Canarian Government, and its recent attempt to persuade the EU to allow it to restrict property sales to foreigners was given short shrift by Brussels.