A couple with four children faces an imminent eviction in the Argana Alta neighborhood. As the couple told La Voz, in 2004 they bought a house in the most populated neighborhood of Arrecife and have lived in that property ever since. However, problems facing the payment of the property led them to stop paying ten years ago. Pushed to look for another home, this family cannot find a rental alternative that they can afford.
"We could pay up to 700 euros," says the mother of the family on the other end of the phone, about the money they could give in exchange for renting a house, "I've been looking all day like crazy and there's no rent," she continues. Since April 19, the Social Services area of Argana informed her that she, her husband and her four children, between eight and 17 years old, were awaiting a judicial eviction so they would have to vacate the house. To this day they have not found a new home to move to.
The housing crisis that is shaking the island of Lanzarote reflects only 52 homes for rent in one of the reference portals. In addition, there is the difficulty of being able to meet all the required requirements: only officials, seasonal rentals or exorbitant prices for low or medium salaries.
The family was not aware that they were in that situation and they assure that, despite the fact that they hired a lawyer that cost them 2,000 euros, he did not inform them that they would be evicted. "They deceived me and the Court never called me," says the father of the family during the interview. Currently, they have a court-appointed lawyer and desperately await an option to not be left on the street.
Thus, this family assures that they stopped facing the payments because their mortgage, which was variable, increased gradually from 370 euros to 630 and made it impossible for them to continue facing the payment of the monthly payments, with a single salary of 1,200 euros.
