SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct. 19 (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Housing of the Government of the Canary Islands is already planning to incorporate 2,238,359.91 euros into next year’s budget in order to deal throughout 2023 with the payment of the extraordinary rental aid launched at the beginning of this year by the Canarian Executive to guarantee a roof to those families in the Aridane Valley who lost their home or cannot access it, due to the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, in La Palma.
“With this rental assistance, and with the purchase and creation of homes, we are facing the housing emergency suffered by those families affected by the volcano who did not have the resources to be able to access a rental home, and in this way we help them to maintain a temporary home,” said the councilor for the area, Sebastián Franquis, in a parliamentary commission.
“Although some criticize it, it is clear that this is another and fundamental aid for those affected by the volcano, it is direct aid, it is money that we are paying families monthly. It is aid that represents an investment of 1,425 this year. 000 euros, a contribution that we are going to increase in 2023 to 2,238,000 since we are detecting an increase in the families that take advantage of this extraordinary aid,” he added.
This rental assistance was activated at the beginning of this year after the social workers hired by the Ministry received a large number of requests from families who requested this type of assistance rather than the delivery of temporary housing. The extraordinary rental aid is one more of the measures that the Ministry has put in place to deal with the housing emergency caused by the volcano. As the counselor recalled, 140 purchased or refurbished homes have already been delivered, and another 126 modular homes (chosen by the town councils) that are being installed, and another 40 recently acquired in Breña Baja that are being refurbished, will be delivered in the coming weeks.
“As we were also aware that it was going to be difficult to find a lot of free housing in the real estate market of the Aridane Valley to meet the demand we had, we launched this help line, in agreement with the town halls and the Cabildo, a help line that in little more than seven months benefits 510 families to whom we are paying the monthly payment according to the established parameters”, pointed out Franquis.
The regional counselor recalled in Parliament that thanks to this aid, families are paid a maximum of 594 euros per month for three years, although it can be extended for longer. In addition, he explained that this aid extends not only to those who lost their homes but also to those who cannot access their houses due to the presence of gases. He described Franquis that, of those 510 beneficiary families, 103 are from families that lived in Porto Naos or in La Bombilla.
According to the counselor, “the problem of gases has unfortunately become a structural problem and therefore, in the last Housing Coordination Commission, all Public Administrations agreed to carry out a special plan for these families, precisely those in those areas, aware that no one knows at this time when they will be able to occupy these homes again.That is why this rental line remains open because new families will join, not only those who had their residence in La Bombilla and Puerto Naos, who is now our highest priority, but also for all those affected who now live with other relatives and who can take advantage of this line of rent”.
Franquis positively valued this line of help and assured that it is the objective of the Ministry to continue promoting it. “For this we are going to increase the credit by 2023 with 800,000 euros more than planned this year. This is a line that will be open to be increased as necessary if more affected families are registered who prefer a rental home more than other alternatives that are on the table,” he said.
