Somos Lanzarote has denounced that the Island Council - governed by Coalición Canaria, PSOE and PIL - is "failing to fulfill the functions conferred by law" in the face of what is becoming "one of the great social problems of the island: the impossibility of accessing the right to housing, even on a rental basis, by the majority of society." For this reason, it has announced that it will present a motion in the next plenary session of the Corporation in which it "demands that the island institution comply with the powers conferred on it by law in this matter, among which is to exercise the 'housing police' that would control and carry out an effective census of the public housing stock".
The formation has highlighted that the powers that the Cabildo has, and that are included in the Canary Islands Housing Law of 2003, "in the case of Lanzarote are not being exercised because they prefer to kick the ball out and look the other way." "It is scandalous that there are so many people without a home and at the same time public houses without people, without anyone controlling the social purpose of said housing stock," they declared from Somos Lanzarote, stressing that the surveillance of that public stock "is one of the powers that the law confers on the Cabildo and that no one carries out in Lanzarote."
"Accessing a rental is impossible today with the average salary that is charged on the island, and the rise of uncontrolled vacation rentals will multiply this problem as the current contracts are finalized, those that were signed before this sudden bubble began," said Tomás López, councilor and spokesperson for Somos Lanzarote. For this reason, he pointed out that this situation "can become really dramatic, especially when public administrations continue to fail to address the problem."
"If the Government doesn't do it, we can and must do it"
Regarding possible solutions to housing problems, Somos has pointed out that among the tools provided by law to join efforts between administrations is the creation of an Island Housing Consortium that provides advice, public aid, services that provide guarantees to tenants and landlords and the formation of a rental housing stock, among others. In addition, he pointed out that "the Island Consortium could execute, through an agreement with the Canary Islands Housing Institute, public housing promotions", which he highlighted has been "one of the pending issues in recent years on the Island."
The formation has stated that "in fact, the demand to the Ministry of the Government of the Canary Islands for public works for social protection housing in Lanzarote should be a constant by local administrations and autonomous parliamentary groups." "And if the Government does not do it motu proprio, we can and must do it from Lanzarote, through the figure of the consortium, signing agreements to obtain financing and generate public works that guarantee this constitutional right, especially for the most vulnerable people and families," Somos pointed out as an alternative to take into account in the face of the Corporation's lack of action.
"The coordination at the island level between city councils, Cabildo and Government should unblock this shameful reality in which Lanzarote has been installed for too long, of practical non-existence of public housing policies," said the spokesperson for Somos Lanzarote.
In addition, the organization recalled that "other islands of the Archipelago have launched these bodies aimed at guaranteeing the right to a home, and public promotions are built through them."
Points out the "need to regulate and control vacation rentals"
For Somos Lanzarote, although the institutions are arriving late, "we are still in time to stop a situation of housing shortage that ends up being explosive at a social level." In this sense, the formation has explained that more and more habitual rentals are not being renewed and working families cannot find or cannot afford the scarce and very expensive existing rentals. For this reason, they have recalled "the need to exercise effective regulation and controls over the vacation rental modality, in addition to making available to citizens support tools that facilitate popular classes a right that we all have recognized", such as having a home.
The question about the control of vacation rentals that Somos points out is in fact being widely debated throughout the Archipelago, especially after the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands overturned part of the decree of the Government of the Canary Islands that intended to regulate this rental regime. Justice alleged in this case that "the regulation clearly infringes the freedom of enterprise and the freedom to provide services, limiting the tourist offer without sufficient justification."
They also point out from Somos Lanzarote in their motion to "the negotiation of social rentals at the island level with homeowners, including banks, as one of the measures to be implemented from inter-institutional coordination." "We already have the problem on top of us and now it remains to be seen if each administration does its part to try to solve it or if, on the contrary, they will continue to look the other way; it is a matter of political will," they concluded.
