The Canary Islands Government's youth housing program has facilitated accommodation for a total of 2,353 people in Lanzarote since this project began on the island in May 2007. As of June 30 of this year, 715 young people have benefited from rental housing and 1,638 from homeownership.
In these first six months of the year alone, the Youth and Vacant Housing Exchange program, integrated into the Canary Islands Housing Plan, managed the rental and sale of 190 homes, which allowed a total of 232 young people between the ages of 18 and 35 to be housed on the island of Lanzarote. Specifically, 147 young people arranged the rental of their homes at one of the Exchange offices, and 85 signed the purchase of their first home, taking advantage of the benefits of the Canary Islands Youth Mortgage.
The Minister of Housing of the Canary Islands Government, Inés Rojas, has highlighted the confidence that both young people, the main beneficiaries, and the owners and financial institutions that collaborate with the Canary Islands Executive have placed in this program year after year. "The advantages are for young people who want to solve their housing problems because they want to become independent or have to move from their place of residence for studies, as well as for owners who have vacant homes that they could rent but are hesitant for fear that tenants will not pay the monthly payments or damage their homes," Rojas said.
At the Exchange offices, young people receive "advice, assistance with procedures" and can apply for aid of up to 300 euros for rent and up to 12,000 euros for the down payment on a purchase through the Canary Islands Youth Mortgage. In addition, in order to stimulate the rental of vacant homes, it grants subsidies to owners of up to 3,000 euros to allocate the home for lease for at least five years and through the Youth and Vacant Housing Exchange, which can be increased by another 6,000 euros if the house needs rehabilitation.
The advantages of renting
Rojas highlighted the excellences of this specific program aimed at Canary Islands youth as well as "the very important effort that has been made in the Canary Islands in recent years to support young people in accessing their first home, promoting renting as the best option for becoming independent." "Renting has many advantages both for young people, who tend to have fewer resources when they decide to become independent, and for mobilizing vacant homes and contributing to the sustainability of the territory," she said.
In 2010, the rent of a home through the Exchange in Lanzarote was 408.30 euros per month, cheaper than in 2009, when the average rent was 427.90 euros, 4.5 percent less. In addition, according to the latest data published, the average rental income through the Housing Exchange is 20 percent lower than the market income in the Canary Islands, which amounts to 524 euros per month.
Regarding the sale of homes, the average price of homes sold and financed during 2010 through the Housing Exchange on the island of Lanzarote amounted to 144,606.50 euros and the average price of sale in 2009 was 166,291.80 euros, so the price in 2010 decreased by 13 percent compared to the previous year.
During the past year 2010, Lanzarote became the third island, after Gran Canaria and Tenerife, where the largest amount of financing was granted through the Canary Islands Youth Mortgage, close to 17 million euros (16,963,149.20 euros) through credit granted to young buyers on the island.
