Santa Cruz Slashes Building Permit Times to Boost Housing
Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council has significantly cut building permit approval times from nearly eleven months to six or seven months to address the urgent housing shortage, achieved by strengthening departments and supporting new regional rules.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council has significantly cut the time it takes to approve new building permits. The council's Urban Planning department has managed to reduce this process from nearly eleven months to just six or seven. This speed-up is a direct response to the urgent housing shortage in the area, making it easier to build new homes, whether single-family houses or apartment blocks.
Zaida González, the councilor in charge of urban planning, explained that this improvement comes from strengthening key departments: Licensing, Discipline, and Personnel. They've filled vacant positions, which has helped. Also, working more closely with the Local Police has made reports quicker, which in turn helps the Urban Planning Discipline team do its job more efficiently.
During the presentation of the 2026 Urban Planning budget, set at €9.7 million, Zaida González mentioned the council's support for regional rules aimed at speeding up home construction. She described the budget as "more conservative" due to uncertainty about the national budget. These new rules allow groups like the College of Architects to access the Canary Islands Government's registry, which helps process new building applications faster. The hope is that more approved permits will lead directly to more available housing.
Another main goal for the department is to move forward with the General Urban Development Plan (PGO), which is the most important tool for planning the city's future. After the carnival, meetings will start with the five districts to discuss their initial plans and gather feedback. Even though the city is currently operating under the old PGO, the department is already working on four major updates to it.
These updates include adapting the 2005 PGO to fit current laws, which will allow for things like expanding supermarket areas. Another important change involves Vía Cornisa, behind Anaga Avenue, to free up land in areas like Partido Dos and La Meseta. Work will also continue on changes related to Las Teresitas and the compulsory purchase of the Cofeca block in Tres de Mayo. This last action will allow the area to be re-divided to create new public squares and buildings.