El Gobierno de Canarias experimenta aumento en solicitudes de calificación de viviendas protegidas
The Ministry of Public Works, Housing, and Mobility of the Government of the Canary Islands has received 56 requests for the qualification of 2,137 protected properties in the archipelago over the last year and a half. Of these, 37 were from the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, totaling 1,234 homes, while 19 requests were recorded in the province of Las Palmas, adding up to 903 properties.
The definitive qualification certificate is a document issued by the Autonomous Community in relation to a housing development, declaring its public protection and establishing its legal regime, and receiving a subsidy for it, as stated by the regional department in a press release.
This request can be made by individuals or legal entities (public or private), cooperatives, or communities of goods.
In 2021, only 3 requests were received for the qualification of 112 homes; and in 2022, the number decreased to 2 requests for 78 homes. The figures increased in 2023 with 14 requests for 414 homes, and in 2024 with 42 requests for 1,723 properties.
DECREE LAW OF URGENT MEASURES IN HOUSING
The councilor of the department, Pablo Rodríguez, emphasized that measures such as the Decree Law of Urgent Measures in housing, which promotes the availability of land and the reuse of buildings for residential use, as well as other initiatives aimed at promoting and building protected properties, have been crucial in ensuring access to decent housing.
«In fact, this increase in the number of requests and their resolution has been favored by Decree Law 1/2024, which has allowed to streamline procedures and boost the files for the qualification of these properties on different islands,» Rodríguez defended.
He also attributed this growth in requests to the «boost» given to public-private collaboration so that the sector joins forces with public administrations and to the investment in unfinished assets to bring a greater number of homes to the market.
«Another key modification for this increase in requests, also included in the decree law, is the updating and revaluation of the Canarian Basic Module according to the reality of construction costs in the Canary Islands, taking into account the increase in the price of materials in recent years, adapting to the current market reality and to each island, to promote the construction of protected housing,» he pointed out.
Among the measures to incentivize housing supply, the councilor recalled that the Government is in the process of approving a second decree law that will include the empowerment of third parties to expedite the granting of urban planning permits, addressing «one of the major obstacles to housing construction, as well as new measures to promote construction.»
