Santa Cruz Launches €33.6M Tender for 226 Affordable Homes

The Santa Cruz City Council is seeking bids for a contract to build 226 new affordable rental homes and carry out development work in Cuevas Blancas, Santa María del Mar. This project has a budget of 33.6 million euros, made possible by an agreement between the Canarian Housing Institute (Icavi), the Island Council, and the local authority.

These new social homes will be spread across two eight-story buildings. They will include 20 one-bedroom apartments (8.85%), 100 two-bedroom apartments (44.25%), 79 three-bedroom apartments (34.96%), 24 four-bedroom apartments (10.62%), and 3 five-bedroom apartments (1.33%), as explained by Municipal Housing Councilor, Belén Mesa.

Councilor Mesa stated that the aim is to build as many homes as possible within the existing building limits, using the maximum permitted height and occupying less than 80% of the plot.

Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez confirmed that Santa Cruz is committed to building more affordable housing. This includes 37 new apartments already under construction in María Jiménez, in addition to the 226 planned for Cuevas Blancas. The total cost for these projects under the agreement is 41.7 million euros. The Island Council is contributing six million euros, with the rest coming from the Government of the Canary Islands through the Canarian Housing Institute. The City Council is covering the cost of the land and development work, contributing over seven million euros.

Each of the two buildings housing the 226 units will feature a basic layout of three apartments per central section: two three-bedroom units with windows on both the exterior and interior, and one two-bedroom unit with windows facing the interior of the property. This design creates a very efficient layout, making good use of space and allowing all apartments to have windows on two opposite sides.

The Housing department confirmed that the underground level will be used for parking. It will have a simple layout with a central aisle and parking spaces on both sides, providing one space for each home. This design ensures that the building's shape remains consistent from the ground up, with parking below street level and homes above.

Each building will have a maximum of eight stories, comprising a ground floor (above street level), five standard floors, and two top floors with attic-duplex apartments. This design allows some apartments on the seventh floor to be split, and each central section will have an elevator reaching the highest floor, with internal connections to the eighth floor where needed.