The Governing Council of the Cabildo of Lanzarote has approved this Monday the acquisition of two plots in Arrecife to be used for the construction of social housing.
This decision is part of the efforts of the first Island Corporation to "improve access to decent and adequate housing for the residents of the island, particularly those with fewer resources".
For the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, "the purchase of these plots, with an investment of around 3.5 million euros, represents a crucial step to address the growing demand for social housing on our island. The tourism industry has brought many economic benefits to our land, but it has also created difficulties for young people and workers in finding affordable housing. With this initiative, we seek to ensure that the citizens of Lanzarote can enjoy the constitutional right to decent housing."
The Housing Councilor, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, highlighted "the transfer of these plots to the Canary Housing Institute to allow the construction of official protection housing, in this case in Arrecife, an urgent need in our community. This measure is a direct response to the lack of land available for these projects and demonstrates our commitment to improving the quality of life of the residents of Lanzarote."
The location of the plots, located between De Vicente Vila González, Gómez Ulla and Apolo streets in Arrecife, and with an area of more than 5,000 m2 in total, has been selected for its suitability for the development of social housing. The Cabildo of Lanzarote does not have suitable properties for this purpose, so the direct acquisition of these plots is the most viable and urgent solution to meet the housing needs of the island's population. In fact, the Corporation plans to buy, in the near future, new plots in the municipality of Yaiza.
For its part, the Canary Housing Institute has assured that it will commit to building all possible homes on the land provided by the Cabildo, in order to compensate for the lack of construction of official protection housing in Lanzarote during the last 40 years.
Cooperation framework agreement
It should be remembered that last June, the president of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, and the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, ratified the cooperation framework agreement between the Canary Housing Institute and the island institution to carry out actions aimed at promoting public housing and promoting social rental on the island.
In this way, both administrations will collaborate in the execution and financing of the actions that are part of the Canary Islands Housing Plan 2020-2025 with the aim of increasing the supply and the public park of rental housing, thus guaranteeing the right to housing, fundamentally to those groups with greater difficulties in accessing it.
The cooperation framework agreement will involve the annual allocation by the Cabildo of a budget item to finance the acquisition of properties and, where appropriate, the execution of the works that may be necessary to undertake for their use. Likewise, the first Corporation is also working on a rental subsidy plan as well as on different subsidy lines aimed at the town councils for the acquisition of land and/or collaborating with the urbanization expenses, provided that the land object of the action is destined for housing under a social or affordable rental regime, in accordance with the second additional provision of Decree Law 1/2024, of February 19, on urgent measures regarding housing.
