The whole concept of housing in Tenerife is completely different to that of England and many other European countries. The authorities here have a policy of grouping the ordinary people together in large blocks of flats and discouraging anyone from living in rural areas apart from those individuals involved in agriculture, although many of the politicians making those decisions live in detached Tenerife houses , (often referred to as villas in Tenerife ).

The word villa was originally used to describe a ‘pretentious and luxurious country residence with extensive grounds' but this word was stolen and corrupted by developers in England in the nineteen thirties and was used to describe middle class detached and semi-detached homes in suburbia. Nevertheless the term still retained a hint of its origins in the minds of most people who, if asked, would have replied that a villa was a nice big house in Tenerife or something similar.

Developers of Tenerife properties searching for words to indicate that their particular houses in Tenerife were something special quickly readopted the word and, as is so often the case with marketing people , soon used the term to describe anything remotely resembling a villa in Tenerife . This trend has been compounded by status conscious apartment owners even referring to their small one bed roomed apartment in Tenerife (to anyone who doesn't know the property) as, ‘my villa in Tenerife '.

Tenerife houses here in the accepted sense of the word do exist in both the north of the island and also in the older established areas and inland villages in the south, in the form of rural houses or fincas in Tenerife. This word finca has many translations; it can mean a rural plot of land with or without a building right through to a substantial farm with more than one house. These often dilapidated and neglected fincas in Tenerife are very sought after by foreigners looking for their home in Tenerife while wishing to enjoy the tranquillity and pace of Tenerife life particularly if their daily working environment involves the tourist industry.

A very large percentage of the Tenerife houses and apartments in Tenerife are aimed at the foreign buyer looking to get a foothold in the housing market of Tenerife , many of whom will buy an apartment for use by themselves and then let it to friends and work colleagues. These clients often work their way up the scale of ownership until they have a house or villa in Tenerife ready for their retirement in the sunshine.

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