What does the empty housing stock mean for people looking for a home?
211,400 unoccupied homes is roughly one in every five homes across the archipelago. That figure comes from INE data for 2021, reported by elDiario Canarias Ahora.
For anyone searching for a home, the numbers suggest there is plenty of space on paper, but much of it remains unused.
How does the Vivienda Vacía programme work?
Since 15 October 2026, owners of empty or only partly used private homes can turn them into affordable rentals through the new Vivienda Vacía website. The Canary Islands Government has opened the portal.
Applicants can search by island, municipality, rent and number of bedrooms. Owners receive free advice on rent levels, tenant selection, contracts, inventories and legal matters.
People looking for a home get guidance on Spanish tenancy law and help with signing the contract.
Who can rent a home through the scheme?
The scheme is aimed at families or households with limited incomes. They must be registered in the Registro de Demandantes de Vivienda Protegida de Canarias, the register for people interested in publicly supported housing.
Income limits generally range from 1.5 IPREM, about 10,422 euros, to 4 IPREM, 27,792 euros. For large families or families with dependent relatives with disabilities, an additional upper limit of 5 IPREM, 34,740 euros, applies.
How much is the rent and how long does the contract last?
Rent may not exceed 30 percent of annual gross income and is capped at 500 euros a month. The minimum term is three years and can be extended to seven years.
VISOCAN, the Canary Islands public housing company, pays the owner the monthly rent for the duration of the contract even if no tenant pays. The aim is to reassure owners about the risk of missed payments.
What role do holiday lets play?
In August 2026 there were 40,837 holiday lets in the Canary Islands, compared with 47,127 in August 2025. That is a fall of 6,290 homes, or 13.3 percent, as La Provincia reports.
Experts point out that many owners registered their properties as holiday lets ahead of expected legal restrictions. That artificially inflated the licence numbers, according to the Canarian News report.
What is still unclear?
Nobody has yet published a complete island-by-island list of available homes or specific individual rents. There is also no final timetable for when the homes will actually be occupied.
The Canary Islands Government has announced its own inventory and assessment of empty homes as part of the programme. No official total for all empty homes is shown in the available results.