The demands for protected housing officially skyrocketed in 2024 in Lanzarote. According to data from the Housing Department of the Government of the Canary Islands, last year a total of 2,295 families were registered as public housing applicants seeking a solution to the housing crisis that plagues the island. Meanwhile, social housing construction projects will only cover 27% of these demands, without taking into account the foreseeable increase in families demanding public housing throughout this year.
According to these figures that La Voz has been able to access, between 2020 and 2024, applications for official protection increased by 38.4% in just four years. Starting from 1,659 requests in 2020. However, the current social housing stock and the planned constructions are insufficient to meet the demand.
In 2021, the government group of the Pacto de las Flores planned the construction of 437 protected housing units in the Maneje neighborhood, in Arrecife. Of these, 134 are already under construction, the third block of houses that is planned in the capital of Lanzarote, with 67 more apartments, or will be completed until at least 2026. With these unique social housing constructions, it is expected that in the next two years 201 houses in Arrecife will be put on the social market. In addition, the second phase with the remaining 236 is pending.
Also, the only municipality on the island that has experienced an increase in social housing is Yaiza, where between the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Canarian Government have bought 42 homes in Playa Blanca. Of these, a part, according to the Canarian Minister of Housing, Pablo Rodríguez, has advanced, will be destined to social rent and another to affordable rent for workers.
In addition, there are 136 social houses pending construction on a plot of land ceded by the Yaiza City Council also in Playa Blanca. With these figures, there are only 615 new social houses contemplated on the table, some under construction (201), others already acquired (42) and the rest pending construction (372).
In addition, the company Viviendas Sociales e Infraestructuras de Canarias (Visocan) only has 27 social houses on the island of Lanzarote. Meanwhile, the Canarian Housing Institute (ICAVI) has assumed the management of the 42 houses in Playa Blanca.
In this way, according to the experts consulted by La Voz, the solution is to expand the public housing stock, not only by building more, but also by acquiring already built housing, limiting rental prices, the purchase of housing by foreigners and establishing a moratorium on vacation homes, among other proposals.
