The housing problem is worsening in Lanzarote. On the morning of this past Tuesday, a total of 99 people, including 24 minors, were evicted from the abandoned housing development they had been occupying in Playa Blanca for years. However, finding an alternative housing option on the island is not an easy task. This can be seen on the main housing search pages for rent.
The leading real estate portal, Idealista, reveals that there are only 49 homes for rent in Lanzarote, while Fotocasa reduces it to 14. In contrast, offers on the Airbnb vacation rental platform continue to grow.
Prices are also a challenge. The cheapest one-bedroom homes start from 650 euros for 30 square meters and with preference for civil servants, teachers, and healthcare workers who do not rent for the entire season.
The situation worsens if it is a family with children looking for a rental. Is it possible to find a rental in Lanzarote to live in as a family? If we prioritize the search for homes with at least two bedrooms, it is reduced to 34 properties offered on Idealista and nine on Fotocasa. If the requirement is that they are furnished, it continues to decrease.
In most cases, economic solvency is requested to verify that 35% of the tenant's salary can cover the rent. However, the minimum interprofessional wage for this 2024 is 1,134 euros per month in fourteen payments. In other words, a family with one person working and earning the minimum wage will only be able to access rentals of 396.9 euros per month or 463.05 with prorated payments.
Graphic. The following graph shows the different salaries, from the minimum, 1,134 euros, to 2,000 euros per month, with the requirement of allocating 35% to rent payment.
In this way, the increase in rental prices makes it increasingly difficult for tenants to access housing. There is little supply and what is available is more expensive than usual and, in many cases, unaffordable for an average salary. This means that at least two salaries in a family unit are necessary to be able to cover the rent and the rest of the expenses involved in accessing a home.
Sharing a home, more expensive than ever
Compared to the conventional way of renting an entire home for a family unit, the option of sharing a home is growing so that expenses are shared, although this initiative is becoming increasingly expensive. Specifically, 42% more expensive than in 2015, according to Fotocasa.
This same real estate portal reveals that, as of December 2023, renting a single room in the Canary Islands meant paying an average of 393 euros per month.
