Families in Tenerife with at least one child or requiring more than one room have a difficult time finding a rental below £800 in the southern part of the island. In fact, the only option available on the popular property portal Idealista is located in Arico. Priced at £790 for two bedrooms and 55 square meters2, the landlord recommends it for only one or two people due to its size.
The second-floor property has no elevator. The kitchen and living room share a single space. In the bedrooms, the beds are attached to the closets and there is only one bathroom. These are the main features of the house, located in the Jaca neighbourhood, Arico, near the beach.
It is the only possible option when filtering by price and rooms on the property portal, along with another in Costa del Silencio that is only available for seasonal rental and therefore not suitable for those looking to rent indefinitely.
Only 13 Available Homes for Less Than a Thousand Pounds
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Rental prices continue to soar in Tenerife. Following the viral tweet criticizing the inability to find apartments below £600, the controversy over the difficulties in accessing decent housing has erupted on the social media platform X, with the South being one of the areas most affected by this problem.
[–>The total supply in the southern area, from Los Gigantes to El Porís de Abona, consists of 251 homes. Of these, only nine are priced below £800 and have at least one bedroom. By increasing the budget to £900, the options increase to 20. It would be even more challenging to find a residence with two or more bedrooms; only 13 are available for less than a thousand pounds.
A significant percentage of these figures includes properties available only for short-term rentals. The southern part of Tenerife is the primary tourist hub of the island, and a large portion of the accommodation supply is aimed at meeting the demands of those on short stays, typically less than six months. The rise in popularity of holiday homes has become another issue for permanent residents in the South.
Having One of the Lowest Salaries in Spain Doesn’t Help
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The problem is not confined to the southern area. Overall in Tenerife, out of 582 properties offered, only 79 have at least one bedroom and are priced below £800. These figures, often unaffordable for the Canarian population, align the region with Extremadura as the Autonomous Community with the lowest average salary in Spain.
In 2023, the annual earnings of the average Spanish employee exceeded those of workers in the Canary Islands by 3,600 pounds. The majority of people in Tenerife would not be able to afford homes priced above £800, and the task becomes even more challenging for families. Their choices are limited to options such as the one in Arico, which offers less than 60 square meters, no living room, and limited space in one of the bedrooms.
