Today, the Canarian Government will debate the Law of Sustainable planning of the Use of Tourist Accommodation, with a strong chance that the law will be passed.
If approved, the Canarian Government will send all Ayuntamientos in the Canaries a list of registered holiday lets in their area and require them to draw up inspection plans within a space of eight months.
The law will also make it far more difficult to register a property as a holiday rental, which is why so many owners have rushed to register their properties in the last two years. This rush meant that the amount of registered tourist beds offered by holiday lets in the Canaries recently exceeded the amount of hotel beds, but the law is expected to lead to a drastic reduction in the amount of holiday lets as the newer, stricter regulations are applied.
The Canarian Government claims that the law will encourage residential rentals and ease the housing crisis, but critics claim it is designed to favour the influential hoteliers’ lobby, which has long campaigned against the holiday rental sector.
ASCAV, the Canarian Association of Holiday Rental Owners has been bitterly critical of the law, which it claims will “eradicate” holiday rentals owned by families. They say the law “favours large landlords and investment funds” and will do little to ease the housing crisis, as 67% of holiday rentals are in tourist areas where residential lets are forbidden.
ASCAV estimates that up to 85% of holiday rentals will not fulfil the new conditions to operate as a “classified activity” (one that can cause annoyance or environmental problems).
They also believe the law will threaten property management firms and cleaning and maintenance services which cater to the holiday rental sector.
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