The President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Paulino Rivero, accompanied by the Minister of Social Welfare, Youth and Housing, Inés Rojas, and the director of the Canary Islands Housing Institute, Jerónimo Fregel, visited this Tuesday morning the group of families who already reside in one of the Arrecife developments that were included in the measure promoted by the Government of the Canary Islands, in order to mobilize new homes and include them in a rental program for families with incomes below 11,000 euros.
Rivero congratulated this group of families who "have already managed to solve their accommodation problems in a satisfactory way, obtaining a home with excellent characteristics, which was built as a free home, for 50 euros per month" and highlighted the interest that this measure has aroused in the sector.
"To date, the developers installed in the islands have already requested the conversion of 1,308 free homes, newly built and that could not be sold due to the current economic situation, into protected homes to take advantage of this specific measure, with which, if they meet the technical requirements contemplated in the Canary Islands Housing Plan, in addition to the rent, they will receive a subsidy of 250 euros per useful square meter and an additional 4,000 euros".
With this measure, Rivero continued, "we expand the supply of public housing, which we allocate to the most disadvantaged families, we promote the rental of protected housing, and we are pioneers in the State, we support developers and improve their liquidity and, something very important, we do not consume more space, we recover what we have and contribute to the sustainability of the territory". Likewise, he assured, "there is no autonomous community in the entire State with this rental modality".
This measure, aimed at developers with free homes, offered two options: either convert the homes into protected homes and receive the subsidies contemplated in the Plan, or leave them in free qualification, with which they received the rent in a single payment each year.
Possibility of purchase
The amount of the rents is 350 euros per month, of which the Government of the Canary Islands contributes 300 euros in the form of an annual subsidy to the developer and the family pays 50 euros per month.
In addition, at the end of the second year, the possibility of opting for the rental modality with an option to purchase is offered and, in that case, at least 30 percent of the rents paid, including the 300 euros of the subsidy, will be deducted from the future sale price.
In Arrecife, 17 families have accessed this housing. All have incomes below 11,000 euros, the average age of the owners is around 40 years and 70 percent are women, several with one or two children.
The houses have 2 and 3 bedrooms and have an area that ranges between 50 and 75 square meters.