canary islands affordable housing bolsa activa rental scheme

Canary Islands Launch New Affordable Housing Scheme

New Scheme Aims to Mobilise 211,000 Empty Homes

Affordable housing and an immediate response to the housing emergency are the central pillars of the Canary Islands government’s main strategy for this legislative term. The Minister for Public Works, Housing and Mobility, Pablo Rodríguez, explained the launch of the Active Affordable Housing Bank on Monday. This key tool is designed to mobilise privately-owned homes currently standing empty—approximately 211,000 across the Canaries—in order to bring them onto the cheap rental market with full guarantees for both owners and tenants.

Addressing a Structural Problem

The Active Affordable Housing Bank has been created to address a structural problem: the withdrawal of thousands of homes from the rental market due to the “legal insecurity” perceived by private landlords. Unlike previous attempts, the Canary Islands Government, through the public company Visocan, will act as a solid intermediary. Rodríguez explained that a tender worth €1.8 million has already been published on the procurement platform. This contract, lasting for two years with the option to extend for another two, will allow third-sector organisations and specialised entities to carry out the work of recruitment and management, acting as a bridge between the administration, property owners, and citizens.

Three Pillars of Security for Landlords

One of the points the minister stressed most was the need for the programme to be “attractive” so that owners decide to take the step and bring their houses out of disuse. To this end, the new Bank offers three pillars of security: a payment guarantee, which assures the owner they will receive the monthly rent without issue, as the administration backs the process. They are also guaranteed the maintenance of their asset, meaning that at the end of the contract, the property will be returned in adequate condition, as it was handed over. Another incentive to ‘hook’ owners of empty homes is assistance with refurbishment, in cases where a property is not in optimal condition to be lived in.

Learning from Past Failures

Rodríguez emphasised that, unlike the “resounding failure” of the previous legislative term—where only one home was secured in four years due to the requirement to cede usufruct for seven years and excessively low rents—this new model recovers formulas that worked successfully in the Canary Islands between 2002 and 2003. In this case, the rental price will be assessed, set approximately 30% below the market price, using the basic module for protected housing (VPO) as a reference. “For example, if a home on the open market costs €950, on this bank it will have a significantly lower price that will allow tenants to build a life project without financial suffocation,” highlighted Pablo Rodríguez.

An Integral Strategy Against the Housing Emergency

The Active Bank is just one piece of a larger deployment. Pablo Rodríguez recalled that this term has mobilised “the largest number of instruments and tools launched to date”. Among these actions, he highlighted legislative modifications to mobilise land, the transformation of properties so that commercial premises, administrative offices and unfinished buildings become new homes, a decree law for administrative streamlining, and a record budget for housing policies, which exceeds €200 million, plus an additional €36 million specifically for rental assistance.

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