First 30 wooden houses bought for victims of La Palma volcano

Modular wooden houses acquired to help people left homeless

The first of at least 200 modular wooden houses have been bought by the Canary Islands government this week to help with the housing emergency caused by the La Palma volcanic eruption. The minister of Public Works, Transport and Housing, Sebastian Franquis, announced this Thursday 4 November that the acquisition had begun. 

The first 30 wooden houses are already available for installation. El Paso City Council have proposed a plot and are now awaiting the results of a report to ensure the land is compliant with building regulations. The municipality must also complete the correct paperwork to cede the land over to the Ministry and formalise the process, the councillor said at the parliamentary committee. 

The acquisition of the first lot of wooden houses has been carried out through the Canarian Housing Institute (ICAVI). They examined many proposals in the tender process and have reached an agreement with a company that specialises in this type of housing. The wooden houses are currently still in their disassembled state in a warehouse in El Paso, but are ready to go once the other reports and paperwork are completed. 

La Palma wooden houses are mainly three-bedroom properties and are constructed with Nordic fir wood. They measure around 74 square metres and have a living room, kitchen, bathroom and toilet. All are finished with thermal insulation and plasterboard, and a laminated parquet floor. 

Currently, the first phase of the housing plan lain out by the government has people staying in hotels or with relatives. The councillor hopes the next stage will stage as soon as possible.  “As I announced last week in parliament, we will begin between this week and the next to launch the transition phase of these families who are currently staying in hotels or who are living with relatives so that little by little they go into these prefabricated homes or purchased homes, a process that won’t be completed overnight. As I explained then, it is a phase that will last three to four months because the homes have to be found, acquired, fitted out and then given to the neediest families.”

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