Yaiza: 42 public homes in Playa Blanca still not allocated after 18 months

The 42 newly built homes in the Los Ajaches development in Playa Blanca have still not been allocated to tenants, the mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, has stated. The purchase was signed before a notary on 30 January 2025, when the president of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, was photographed holding up the keys.

The flats were bought jointly by the Canary Islands Government and the island authority for the affordable rental market, in an operation worth 9.3 million euros. Allocation had been announced for last June, but the town hall says it has no information on the current state of the procedure. Noda has formally requested a meeting with the Cabildo president, arguing that as co-financing institution it also owes an explanation.

The mayor acknowledges the homes will not solve the wider shortage: around 400 people in the municipality are waiting for public housing. "They do not cover the whole demand, but they are relief while other routes we have proposed to both administrations are resolved," he says.

A second file is also pending: 136 affordable rental homes planned on the 42,000 square metres the council transferred to the regional government. Noda has asked for a working meeting with María del Pino de León Hernández, director of the Canary Islands Housing Institute, to find out when construction will go out to tender. The council says the project is ready and has specifically asked that the works be funded through the State Housing Plan 2026-2030, whose first allocations are due to reach the regions this summer.

Housing pressure in the south of Lanzarote

Playa Blanca is one of the island's fastest-growing residential areas, and private rents there have long outpaced local wages, pushing many registered residents towards the public system. Access to subsidised housing in the Canary Islands runs through the official register of applicants managed by the regional housing institute: applicants must be listed and keep their income, household and residence details up to date to be considered when a call is opened. Yaiza town hall handles the first point of contact for residents checking their file.