canary islands land law protected housing

Canary Islands approves new land law with more protected housing

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Canary Islands Government approves new land law

The Canary Islands Government approved on Monday the final text of the bill updating the Land and Natural Spaces Law, which will now be sent to Parliament. The reform raises the proportion of urbanisable land that must be set aside for protected housing from 30% to 40%.

Higher protected housing requirements

Manuel Miranda, the regional minister for Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Water, explained at the press conference following the Governing Council meeting that the initiative, which replaces the 2017 Land Law, also increases the reserve for protected housing in renovation and refurbishment projects on consolidated urban land from 10% to 20%.

Miranda said the Canary Islands Government aims to adapt the 2017 rules to housing needs, the demographic challenge and climate change, as well as to simplify administrative procedures and strengthen protection of the territory.

Five key pillars of the reform

Protection of the territory is one of the five pillars of the bill, alongside faster planning processes, a push for public housing, support for municipalities facing the demographic challenge and stronger legal certainty for the primary sector.

The minister placed housing among the main objectives of the reform and stressed the importance of increasing the percentages earmarked for protected construction given the Canary Islands’ current needs.

Less bureaucracy and faster planning

Alongside those measures, he said the bill seeks to boost the construction of public housing and reduce the administrative burden, with a simplification he estimated at 40% less documentation and an estimated 30% reduction in the time taken to process planning instruments.

Another of the pillars is protection of the territory, particularly in matters of urban planning discipline. The reform toughens penalties for breaches of urban planning rules, which can now reach €600,000, and extends the timeframes for processing them in order to prevent cases from expiring, the regional government said in a statement.

Support for municipalities and the primary sector

The text also provides for special status for municipalities facing the demographic challenge, which will have priority access to grants or subsidies to update their planning, as well as measures to support the primary sector, including the possibility of having homes tied to work on agricultural holdings.

Specifically, the text allows single-family homes in agricultural settlements provided they are linked to genuine agricultural activity. Among the new features of the bill are also industrial renewal plans.

Next steps in Parliament

The Governing Council’s decision comes after the document received initial approval in June and was subsequently sent to the Consultative Council, which called for greater clarification of aspects related to the conditions of environmental assessment.

Miranda explained that work on the reform began around two and a half years ago and included meetings on all the islands over several months, in a participation process that, according to the minister, resulted in a proposal to update and simplify the law. The minister expressed his wish that the parliamentary process will open a stage of consensus and allow new initiatives to be incorporated.

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