Want to spend a budget month in one of the canaries Jan/Feb - and tips on....

[TriptoTipp]

....which island is cheapest for a longer term rental and car hire (any tips on achieving either).

I dont want to be in a busy resort - want something basic and off the beaten track. Happy to be inland/mountains. Dont need a pool. I just need space to read, rest, walk on my own to reset after a very bad year. Is it a pipe dream to try to do this on a budget?

Are there any sites that do longer term rentals?

Not a direct answer to what you are looking for, but January is good, prob the cheapest month.
I often get a good deal by booking (counterintuitively) two holidays back-to back to cover a month.
It can work out cheaper (and just not use the flights in the middle)
Though this is primarily hotel bookings rather than villa.
e.g Tui - if you put in 28 days in the search, it’s often more expensive than breaking it down into 2 x 15 days.
I favour Fuerteventura, literally just landed after staying in El Cotillo with Jet 2, a small fishing village with superb walks and endless little coves and beaches right on the doorstep - as one example.

If you don't get in the outbound flight the airline may cancel your return flight

Thats a top tip @VWT5 - and yes I also thought that the return would be cancelled if you didnt take the outbound.

I dont think I could cope with a hotel on my own - not feeling social at the moment and my idea of hell would be swerving other friendly guests worried that I am lonely and in need of company. So I thought self catering would be more private. On booking.com the cheapest I am seeing is £400/week for a one bed apartment (only looked at Lanzarote so far) would need to add on flights and car hire so might be a false economy to assume its cheaper to do own package and SC.

Thing is accommodation in jan and feb is high season in Canaries for all the “swallows” who winter there for three or four months. Very popular with Scandinavians, Germans etc. Prices normally drop beginning of May.

Long term rentals are 6 months so you are in the classic holiday rental bracket not long term. You may get cheapest deals on the usual sites such as booking.com but can’t imagine you will find any bargains as such. Loads of people do 6 to 8 weeks and have to pay the going rate as that’s not considered long term.

I am just realising that now.....maybe its as cheap to go to SE Asia instead.

Unlikely to apply if you use Ryanair, Jet2 or Easyjet as they don't sell return flights they're all singles and independent of each other.

OP you could try putting your criteria in the deals section of jet2, easyjet and tui websites and seeing if there's anything suitable.

You could also try asking a travel agent for advice, Hays Travel or an independent if you have one nearby.

They often have long term deals but might be more focused on more popular places.

If you're not necessarily set on the Canaries, Andalusia could be another option to look at. Weather likely to be mostly good, low cost of living so probably easy to find something cheap to rent on booking.com

Fly to Malaga and often easy to get into inland towns by bus or train. I'd probably look for something on the edge of a town and then hire a car for a few days and the rest of the time use the bus or go on walks from the door. Lots of signposted footpaths but can be very steep and rocky so maybe not an option if you're inexperienced.

Wherever you go, an easily accessible proper Spanish supermarket like Mercadona, Dia or Eroski will help a lot in reducing the cost. Or there's Lidl in Spain too.

Please be aware that accommodation that doesn't really exists gets advertised and people get ripped off. So any doubts ask to pay on arrival
Car hire via autoreisen is pretty cheap.
I'd ask on some of the expat sites for accommodation- not easy, it's busiest time of year when retirees come for months at a time.

We stay 4 weeks in a single Airbnb quite often and there are loads that give you a discount for 28 days plus, others make 28 days a maximum booking period. One place in Spain offers us 45 - 50% off for a month or more between Oct to March. You'll get the biggest discounts in Spain rather than the Canaries at this time of year.
I can confirm the Canaries are very busy at this time of year and also that the weather isn't always great. We've just returned from Lanzarote. Probably half the days were lovely, a few not so good and three days of either rain or a calima(dust storm) when we couldn't go out. Despite this we're off to Fuerteventura at the end of Jan.

Renting a car is a different matter. Many companies won't rent for longer than 28 days or charge a large premium for doing so, requiring you to return the car and take a new contract.
Hope you find something.