“A five-square-meter room for 500 euros is available for rent in La Laguna with a financially secure guarantor and a requirement of a two-month deposit,” reads one of the numerous advertisements seen on digital real estate portals regarding room rentals in Tenerife. The practice of renting a single room for monthly payments that until recently corresponded to the price of an entire home is increasingly common in the real estate market of Tenerife. At present, more than 220 options of this type are being offered on these digital platforms, a figure never before seen.
The practice of renting out rooms has extended beyond university students on the island. The drastic reduction of long-term rental offerings, the proliferation of short-term vacation rentals, the exorbitant increase in prices, and the shortage of social housing have led Tenerife to an unprecedented housing market crisis. Chema Blanco, the real estate manager who posted the aforementioned advertisement, stated on the former platform X (formerly Twitter): “The issue of renting in Tenerife: a gap in the housing law has led to a 20% increase in the offering of room rentals in shared flats. For instance: 500 euros, two months’ deposit, and you even have to provide your own bed.”
The number of rooms appearing in these advertisements is increasing, and their prices are also rising. This trend is not exclusive to Tenerife but is observed across the rest of the Canary Islands as well. Prices range from 200 euros for a room in Buenavista del Norte, 250 euros for another in Los Baldíos (La Laguna), and 280 euros in a house in the district of Santa Clara to 1,900 euros in a villa in La Caleta de Adeje. The demands of the landlords for rooms that do not exceed 10 square meters are noteworthy. “Responsible and employed person” is a requirement in one of the offers, while others demand “guarantors with a good financial standing.”
Data from real estate portals corroborates this phenomenon. The supply of shared flats has increased by 85% in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the last year, leading to an 18% price hike, with the monthly rent reaching 400 euros, according to a report published by Idealista. In the case of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the supply and price (380 euros/month) have remained unchanged. Nationally, the supply has risen by 42% year-on-year, with the price increasing by 5% to reach 400 euros per month.
Sharing a home in Canary Islands costs an average of 393 euros per month, which is 13.8% more than a year ago and 42% more compared to 8 years ago (2015), according to the 2023 Shared Housing in Spain study based on rental housing prices from the last eight years in the Fotocasa Real Estate Index.
When comparing the 2023 prices with those of 2015 (8 years ago), the difference increases significantly by 42%, from 277 euros per month in December 2015 to 393 euros per month in December 2023. In December of last year, the prices of shared housing in three of the analyzed autonomous communities increased by over 10% in the last 8 years. Sharing a home in the Basque Country increased by 14.8%, in the Canary Islands by 13.8%, and in Murcia by 11.3%. Following closely are Galicia with 8.6%, Comunidad Valenciana with 7.5%, Madrid with 7.5%, Catalonia with 6.7%, Asturias with 5.4%, and Castilla-La Mancha with 0.6%. On the other hand, in three communities, the price of shared housing decreased in 2023, those being Aragón with -0.8%, Castilla, and León with -0.9%, and Andalucía with -1.2%.
The housing crisis and the desperation of many people in Tenerife to find reasonable rentals have led to an increase in sharp practices, abuses, and irregularities, according to Raúl Alonso, the general secretary of the Consumers’ Union of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (UCE). He additionally highlights the lack of clear regulations and control measures by the landlords to monitor these behaviors.
