Canarias will take advantage of the Irish presidency of the Council of the European Union to advance its strategy for Brussels to limit the purchase of homes for second residences by foreigners. This was stated by President Fernando Clavijo after the meeting held this Tuesday in Dublin with the Secretary of State for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, John Cummis.
The head of the regional government considers that the negotiation of the Affordable Housing Law that Brussels is preparing and that Ireland wants to promote opens a “window of opportunity” to defend the rights of residents, a demand shared by Canarias and Ireland.
“The results of the meeting with the Government of Dublin are very encouraging,” he said, after emphasizing that the coming months will be fundamental and, in this context, the Irish presidency of the Council of the EU can play a key role in favor of Canarias’ interests. “We leave hopeful that the work we have been developing for some time to limit the purchase of housing by foreigners is beginning to bear fruit,” he added.
The meeting with the Secretary of State aimed to share the measures that both Canarias and Ireland have activated to face the shared challenge of housing. As islands, both Atlantic territories face a limited supply that hinders residents’ access to housing, a priority challenge that requires responses adapted to each reality.
In the case of the archipelago, Clavijo has conveyed to Cummis the package of measures implemented by the Government of Canarias during this legislature to address this challenge from all angles: from the legislative with three decrees that expedite the construction of houses and improve access to public housing; and from the financial with the increase of resources allocated to making more public housing available to Canarians.
The head of the Canarian Executive also explained to the Irish high-ranking official the extra pressure on the real estate market in the archipelago due to the fact that foreigners buy 30% of the houses. The majority, he recalled, are used as second homes, which is why he argued that Brussels should authorize the limitation of these operations to protect the right of Canarians to access housing.
This request from the Canary Islands complies with the provisions of the Recommendation on housing affordability and supply in strained areas approved by the European Commission, which came into effect on September 16. The regulation allows strained territories to adopt measures to protect housing access for the resident population, which opens the door to limiting purchases by outsiders in the Canary Islands, as is already applied in other EU territories.
Likewise, Fernando Clavijo also informed the Irish Secretary of State about the strategy launched by the Canary Islands to place the challenges faced by island territories in terms of housing and territorial development on the international agenda. He invited Ireland to become part of the Inter-island Housing Network that the regional government proposed to UN-Habitat after its participation in May in the 13th World Urban Forum in Baku.
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