Canary Islands plotting measures to clampdown on home purchases to non-residents | World | News
The desire for many to own a home in sunny Spain has caused much dismay from residents and government, particularly in the Canary Islands.
Foreigners including Brits purchasing property in the Canary Islands have caused the property market in the region, including house prices to become unsustainable.
A spokesperson for the Canary Islands, Alfonso Cabello, has urged the government to make some “brave decisions” to address this mounting situation.
According to a mortgage study led by Idealista, demand for mortgages from non-residents in the Canary Islands accounts for 7.7 percent of the national total.
This makes the Canary Islands the fifth-highest region in Spain for mortgage applications from foreigners.
As such, the Canary Islands government is now looking at strict new measures to limit the purchase of new homes by non-residents, according to Canarian Weekly.
The new measures will be part of a broader initiative to address the escalating issue of the housing crisis in the Canary Islands including the demographic challenges endured by residents of the region.
Increasing property demand from foreign buyers and the mounting impact of holiday rentals in residential complexes and areas on the availability of local housing have fueled demands by the government to do more.
The government has taken note of this and will be looking at exploring new measures in a parliamentary commission.
President of the parliamentary commission, Casimiro Curbelo, reiterated that restrictions on non-resident homebuyers were necessary.
Curbelo added that despite the need to tackle this issue, a careful approach would also be required in order to align with European Union regulations.
These regulations state that Spain may impose restrictions on non-EU residents buying property, however, these restrictions must be based on clear, forceful, and non-discriminatory criteria.
One solution for the housing crisis in the Canary Islands could involve having stricter rules for non-residents when attempting to purchase a home so as to ensure the island can leverage its full potential but not allowing house prices to be out of reach for local residents.
According to Statista, Santa Cruz de Tenerife has the highest average home price in the Spanish Canary Islands region as of December 2023, exceeding £2,093 (2,500 euros) per square meter.
Cabello further highlighted that in islands like Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, the population growth driven by non-residents has now outpaced that of native Canarians, deeming this an unsustainable trajectory.
Demand for mortgages from foreigners in the Canary Islands only just surpassed other regions including Madrid (9 per cent), Catalonia (15.9 per cent), Andalusia (20 per cent) and Valencia (28.4 per cent), according to the Idealista mortgage study.
Conclusions about these new measures to tackle the housing crisis in the Canary Islands are currently open to public consultation with a follow-up scheduled for November.
