900 holiday let properties removed from the market in Lanzarote for incorrect licences
The Lanzarote Cabildo announced on Wednesday that 896 holiday homes have been removed from the island’s tourist accommodation market between December 2024 and December 2025. According to the official island registry, the total number of registered holiday lets has dropped from 8,209 to 7,313.
The Territorial Planning Department explained that these properties were removed because they lacked the legal licence required and were not registered in the Land Registry, both essential conditions for operating as a holiday rental property.
Throughout 2025, the island has seen simultaneous removals and new registrations, a pattern the Cabildo says demonstrates that the market is still active but now subject to a “continuous process of regulatory clean-up” driven by inspections.
Lanzarote Cabildo president Oswaldo Betancort said the reduction of nearly 900 holiday properties in just one year “is the result of concrete administrative decisions, not announcements or intentions.” He emphasised that the island’s housing policy is focused on enforcing current regulations and correcting irregularities that have contributed to increased pressure on residents looking for afordable housing.
Territorial Planning councillor Jesús Machín explained that withdrawing these holiday homes offers the possibility that some may return to the residential market, helping ease pressure on both rentals and property purchases, particularly in areas where tourism and residential use are in direct competition.
Machín said that most of the removed properties were located in dense tourist areas, where pressure on land use and public services is already high. He said the reduction in holiday lets also helps limit the growth in tourist bed numbers without increasing visitor volume, “which means less strain on public services, the infrastructure, and the daily life of residents, promoting a more balanced relationship between economic activity and quality of life in Lanzarote.”
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