A kitchen with just two stoves and no counter to prepare food or a living room that serves as a bedroom and dining room. These are some of the characteristics of the smallest flats on the real estate marketthose that have a size of 30 m2. Nails buildings thataccording to the latest report Population and Housing Censuses 2021 published in June by the INE, are becoming more common in Canary Islands. In fact, in ten years these houses have doubled in the Islandsincreasing by 149.31% and going from 4,719 in 2011 to 11,765 in the last year for which data is available, 2021.
If we look at these data by provinces, holy cross of Tenerife It is where these micro-houses grow the most, 198% in ten years. Thus, while in 2011 there were 1,973 small houses, in 2021 they practically tripled, registering a total of 5,873.
In the case of the palms the small houses doubled in the same period, increasing 115%. Of 2,746 houses of 30m2 or less, 5,892 were reported. And although in Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura the increase is not so considerable, highlights the fact that the presence of micro-houses is greater than in the neighboring province.
The m2, through the clouds
The few comforts offered by micro-houses are usually a reason for consultation in tenant unions of the two Canary provinces. Pilar Puyione of its members, assures that those who rent these houses “they complain about the absence of windows, which leaves spaces without light or ventilation”. In addition, there is usually no separation of rooms and “the smells of the kitchen and the bathroom mix in the home”.
Among the cases that the Tenants Union considers “most alarming” is that of the garages that are transformed into homes or, rather, in substandard housing, since they do not meet the minimum habitability criteria. Besides, from the pandemic commercial premises have also been converted, especially in tourist areas from Gran Canaria and Tenerife: “There are shops that closed and, instead of reopening as new businesses, are now micro-houses. Of course, to be considered homes, the landlord had to reform them first, since most of them do not have a bathroom.”
Regarding the reasons that have led to the proliferation of micro-houses in the Canary Islands, Puyi blames the excess of empty houses. in 2021according to INE data, there were 200,000 empty houses in the Archipelagowith The Gran Canarian palms and Santa Cruz de Tenerife as cities where more uninhabited houses were counted in our country. To stop this lack of housing that raises the price of m2 Puyi demands “more housing policies that penalize large holders for having them unused and more public housing”.
Canaries living in 30m2
Adasat Gonzalez knows what it is to live with very little space. Rent a one-bedroom apartment with his partner and they pay for it 495 euros per month, with water and electricity costs included. The house is in the Tenerife municipality of Cross portin tourist area. The lack of space is suffered “especially when cooking but also when we want to store our things”. The only good thing, he clarifies, is that it has a small terrace that was designed for the enjoyment of tourists who decided to stay for short stays.
In Gran Canaria, Claudia Perez He copes better with living in such a small place. Living alone, she does not encounter “great difficulties” in adapting but acknowledges that misses being able to bring visitors home. Pay 480 eurowith expenses included, for sleeping in a room that is also the living room and dining room. Although he has something that makes him “very happy”: he is a two-minute walk from the Las Canteras beach.
