Santa Cruz de Tenerife 21. (Press Europa) –
On Monday, the Governing Council of the Canary Islands sanctioned a decree-law aimed at expediting urban licences and promoting housing development. This urgent regulation is designed to address the issues related to administrative delays in the issuance of licences, aiming to provide a robust boost to housing initiatives across the islands.
The new regulations have been crafted in collaboration between the Ministry of Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Aguas, and the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Mobility. Both departments have worked alongside relevant sectors over recent months to shorten the time required for issuing urban planning from two years to six months.
This Decree introduces mechanisms for public-private partnerships in the creation of mandatory technical reports that are part of the urban licence approval process.
Moving forward, these reports can be prepared not solely by municipal technical services but also by professional colleges, individual experts, or accredited urban entities collaborating with them.
These reports may either be commissioned by the City Council or provided by the applicant in their licence submission, in which case the applicant will bear the cost, which cannot exceed the urban rate value of the project.
While not mandatory, the report will carry immediate legal effect, replacing the municipal report in favourable instances, and it will not require ratification by municipal technicians. In cases of disagreement or lack of coverage, the administration can complete the file.
The aim is to provide municipalities with enhanced resources to operate swiftly, without undermining their authority or the legal integrity of the process.
Practically, any applicant should be able to secure a construction licence in under six months, a substantial reduction from the current average of two years.
Moreover, the Government intends to bolster the implementation of this new decree-law with specific support measures for municipalities confronting demographic challenges, which will be initiated in the weeks ahead alongside the launch of the virtual office addressing the demographic challenge.
Promoted Affordable Housing
The Decree-Law also supplements actions taken in February 2024, such as the approval of Decree-Law 1/2024 concerning urgent housing measures. It now introduces additional tools for the advancement of promoted affordable housing, the repurposing of tertiary land for residential purposes, and the expedited construction of protected homes on land that is not yet fully urbanised, among other provisions.
For the first time, the procedure for declaring residential market areas is regulated, enabling the application of measures outlined in state law regarding the right to housing (Law 12/2023).
Regarding promoted affordable housing, which will establish the Canary Islands as the first autonomous community to implement this initiative, developers involved in the programme will receive urban and fiscal incentives, provided they satisfy specific conditions, with the ultimate objective of assisting notably middle-class individuals who are unable to access other forms of aid.
This regulation, effective immediately upon publication in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, addresses the urgent necessity to facilitate urban procedures within reasonable timeframes, mitigating delays that may impact both citizen rights and economic activities.
Housing Minister, Pablo Rodríguez, emphasised that the current administration has introduced “more instruments and tools than ever” to tackle housing accessibility issues within the islands, following the examples set by regions like Madrid or Valencia, which have already achieved “successful” outcomes.
The minister highlighted the existing administrative “overload,” citing a City Council in Gran Canaria with a population of 100,000 having only one municipal technician responsible for validating licences.
