The Local Committee of Nueva Canarias (NC) in Arrecife asks "once again" the conservative government group of the Popular Party (PP) and the Canarian Coalition (CC) to work on solutions to "wall up" the rise in rental and purchase prices of homes in the capital, which makes it "impossible" to access affordable housing on equal terms.
The Canaristas demand this after learning that prices will experience a notable increase in the next quarter, according to real estate agencies in the Idealista Real Estate Sensitivity Survey. Thus, it would be an increase that would be added to the "exponential increase" that the housing market in Arrecife has suffered, which in the last decade "has not stopped rising" up to 80 percent more.
For the NC spokesperson in the capital, Sheila Guillén, "the real estate market is devouring the ability of Lanzarote residents to access housing on equal terms and safely." She continues, alluding to the fact that "this behavior follows the logic of the free market, increasing prices according to the increase in demand and reduction in supply, and not according to people's purchasing power."
According to Guillén, the conservative government group of the PP and CC in Arrecife "instead of looking for solutions to the housing crisis, insists on generating a false priority in the occupation of abandoned homes, a fact that is derisory in the capital as attested by judicial and police data." However, Guillén continues, "the right tries to make the residents of Arrecife believe that the occupation of homes is a priority problem, and they fill the networks with photos of walled-up properties in order to divert attention from what is the main problem of the city, the occupation of homes by real estate speculators and the tourist rental of large holders."
In addition, NC reminds the PP and CC that the "occupation of abandoned properties stems from the lack of a policy of rehabilitation and conservation of the material heritage of Arrecife, a policy that is the responsibility of the City Council itself."
"Arrecife is possibly the capital of the Canary Islands with the most walled-up and abandoned properties, which generates a terrible image of the city and urban neglect," says Sheila Guillén.
Finally, the Canaristas want to insist on the "need to declare Arrecife as a Stressed Zone," a mechanism established by the State Housing Law that would curb the rise in rental prices. Similarly, they demand from the housing councilor "concrete actions beyond granting construction licenses without knowing if these homes are intended for affordable rental or purchase, since Arrecife does not need more free market homes, but rather protected from the free market."
"It is no longer about lowering prices, which is also important, but about preventing them from continuing to rise," concludes Sheila Guillén.
