The Minister of Public Works, Transport and Housing, Sebastián Franquis, has signed the direct concession of a budget item of 4,500,000 euros to the public body Visocan for the acquisition of homes that, through the Canarias Prohogar program, will be temporarily allocated to families who are "in exceptional situations of housing exclusion or at risk of eviction in the Canary Islands." This initiative, promoted by the Canary Islands Housing Institute (ICAVI), plans to acquire between 40 and 50 homes in the municipalities where the highest cases of housing emergency are recorded in the Canary Islands, including the capital of Lanzarote, Arrecife, together with Santa Cruz de Tenerife, La Laguna, Granadilla, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Lucía de Tirajana and Puerto del Rosario. The acquisitions will be made in these locations or in "neighboring municipalities."
The project contemplates that the acquisition processes can be carried out immediately through the purchase of unfinished housing developments as long as they are between 50% or 75% of their execution. "This will allow to increase the supply of housing without additional land consumption or affecting the private market and, in turn, provide a rapid institutional response for those who are in a situation of housing urgency," they say from the Ministry.
The homes acquired by Visocan must comply with the applicable regulations and may be second-hand, exterior, with a maximum of four bedrooms and an annex (for example, a storage room or garage). In these promotions, the maximum reference value per square meter established for each municipality may never be exceeded and with these parameters, the Ministry estimates that a total of 40 or 50 homes can be obtained in several purchases to be executed in this 2021.
According to the Ministry, the new Canary Islands Housing Plan 2020-2025 "provides more resources to the Canarias Prohogar program with the aim of improving social cohesion and offering a housing resource to people who are in a vulnerable situation (victims of gender violence, people at risk of social exclusion, evictions, etc.) through the management of the available housing stock and with advice, mediation and accompaniment by the various resources of the Canary Islands Housing Institute."
