The Canary Islands housing crisis is now critical as it struggles with its construction targets (Image: Getty)
The archipelago of the Canary Islands is one of many destinations that has succumbed to its own boom.
The surge in holiday rentals has made it increasingly difficult for locals to continue living on islands such as , Lanzarote and Gran Canaria, with entire neighbourhoods being driven out of their homes as higher demand leads to them being priced out.
In a bid to tackle the , the set the task to build 50,000 new homes by 2030.
However, the construction rate is currently lagging far behind, at just 2,900 per year.
If this rate were to continue in the next five years, only new 14,500 will have been built by the deadline.
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AECP President Salud Gil has criticised the poor management and ineffective policies around housing. (Image: Getty)
In response to this, the Association of Property Developers and Builders of Las Palmas (AECP) has issued a stark warning, demanding urgent action to tackle the severe housing deficit.
AECP President Salud Gil has called for an urgent financial push, stating that funds must be found “under every stone” to address the issue and has criticised the current political handling of the crisis.
Ms Gil claimed that the core problem lies in poor management and ineffective policies that fail to incentivise housing development.
She has urged authorities to reinstate the successful housing schemes from 1981 to 1999, which provided government-backed loans for developers and buyers, direct subsidies for down payments and other incentives that improved access to housing.
The housing crisis is now starting to affect other key sectors of the economy beyond tourism. Healthcare and are also suffering as professionals struggle to find accommodation in the archipelago.
While the regional government has introduced measures to accelerate construction and renovation, the AECP believes these fall short of what is required. It has therefore called for a huge increase in the housing budget, making use of unused regional funds, investment programmes and additional state funding.
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The AECP has also suggested allowing private developers to build on public land as well as letting Visocan – the regional public housing company – acquire unfinished or renovated buildings and manage them as affordable rental properties.
The association has also criticised the complicated process involved in building homes in the Canary Islands. Currently, developers must navigate 14 different fiscal processes before a home can be delivered, which results in significant costs and construction delays. To combat this, the AECP has proposed introducing basic building permits that could be processed in as little as 30 days.
“There is plenty of money, but no political will to use it for this issue,” Ms Gil concluded.
Many living on the islands believe that the current tourism model is unsustainable and , often holding placards with slogans such as “The Canary Islands have a limit.”
It was revealed last summer that many low-paid service workers – those crucial to the tourism industry – have been because of the island’s exorbitant property prices.