The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, has lamented that "the PSOE, given the absence of effective measures during the past legislature in the Government of the Canary Islands, has left the price of housing rent up to 80% more expensive in Lanzarote in the last ten years."
Faced with the housing crisis that the island is suffering, mainly generated by the real estate crisis of 2008, and by the shortage of housing, Betancort affirms that “you cannot put patches, such as the declaration of stressed areas proposed by the socialists, but global and strategic measures must be implemented, such as those included in the decree law of urgent measures and in the future vacation housing law that the Government of the Canary Islands plans to approve soon.”
The island president adds that the regional Executive, through the Investment chapter of the Budget, has increased the item allocated to the Canary Islands Housing Institute by 66%. Oswaldo Betancort also emphasizes that “not only must we increase the supply of housing, a fact that will allow us to balance the market and regulate, downwards, the price of sale and rent, but we must also seek a balance between tourist and residential housing, regulating vacation rentals, mainly in tourist areas.”
Betancort adds that “the objective is to order the location and compatibility of vacation homes with residential use and to regulate prices to guarantee access to decent and affordable housing, mainly for young people and workers.”
