A new holiday letting law is currently passing through The Canarian Parliament. In theory, it could become law in The Canaries in the first half of 2025.
This has come about because the sector has grown massively over the last ten years across the islands, contributing to “over tourism,” and a shortage of housing for island residents. The sector is largely unregulated, with owners having to do nothing more than make a “responsible” declaration in order to receive a Vivenda Vacacional licence.
The Tourism Minister, Jessica de Leon, recently gave a press conference explaining several key points of the new legislation, and we have posted the information below. It should be noted, that these key points could still be subject to change, as the bill goes through parliament, so they are not yet set in stone.
Moratorium
The bill proposes a 5 year moratorium on any new licenses being issued.
Control Passes To Municipalities
It will be up to each municipality, rather than The Cabildo, to decide how many, how and where new homes for tourist use can be implemented, and following public consultation with their electorate. They will similarly be responsible for setting a limit on the number of tourist let properties, based on the needs of their area, and represented as a percentage of the housing stock.
Quality Of Life
They will also be responsible for ensuring the quality of life of residents, by ensuring protection of the urban environment, the proper neighborhood coexistence between residents and tourists and the efficient use of public services and equipment.
Owners Will Make A “Qualified” Responsible Statement
Under the new regime, and when new licenses can once again be applied for, owners will have to make a much more detailed statement, including compliance with the adequate conditions of safety, health, accessibility, and of tourist activities, in favor of the protection of the tourist user and the neighborhood close to the housing.
Checks By Municipalities
Municipalities will be responsible for creating a system and staffing to check that registered properties are complying with all requirements.
Existing Owners Will Be Able To Maintain Their Status
Existing owners with a license will be able to continue to operate with their existing licenses, but those licenses will not be transferable to new owners.
New Homes Not Eligible
New build properties will not be issued with tourist rental licenses for a period of ten years from construction. The aim of this is to prevent exploitation by developers.
As we said at the top, these key points may be changed as the bill passes through the assembly, and we’ll update here, as and when things change.
New EU Single Registration
Separate to this, new EU legislation has become law, and will become a requirement from mid year. This requires all holiday letting properties advertised to have a unique registration number, which must be displayed on all advertising. We’ll post more detail and information about this as more comes in.
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