Alejandro Marichal: “The consultation confirms some of the decisions made, but it also clearly shows us where we must continue working, especially on access for our young people to housing that allows them to develop their life project in the municipality.”
Lucía Jiménez: “We wanted to listen directly to the citizens and find out what criteria they consider priorities for the allocation of public housing to be transparent, objective and responsive to the reality of the municipality.”
The Housing Department of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council presents the results of the public consultation held between July 28 and August 31 to gather residents' opinions on the allocation criteria to be included in the future municipal housing ordinance . The participatory process collected over 350 responses and reveals, among its main findings, that 95,1% of participants consider it important to recognize long-standing ties to the municipality , while 89,1% support an allocation system based on a points-based ranking.
The consultation allowed for gathering public opinion on specific issues included in the proposal, such as residency requirements, reservations for certain groups, scoring criteria, and control measures for the use of public housing. Regarding long-term residency, 69% would maintain the proposed requirement of 15 years of continuous residency or 20 years of non-continuous residency , 16,5% would increase these requirements, and 14,5% would opt to reduce them. Furthermore, 331 participants considered it important that long-term residency be taken into account, compared to 17 who responded negatively.
One of the areas where responses suggest changes to the initial proposal is access for young people. The plan includes a 5% quota for those under 35: 36,1 % of participants consider this percentage sufficient, 55,7% propose increasing it, and 8,2% propose reducing it . Regarding the points-based allocation system, the most frequently cited criteria were length of residence ( 57,4% ); having dependent children ( 52,9 % ); income ( 45,7% ); disability ( 36,3% ); emergency situations ( 34,3% ); and large families ( 18,6% ). Furthermore, eight out of ten participants rated the draft ordinance as good or excellent.
The First Deputy Mayor, Alejandro Marichal , points out that the consultation confirms some of the proposed decisions , but also clearly indicates where we must continue working, especially regarding access to housing for our young people that allows them to develop their life plans in the municipality . For her part, the Councillor for Housing, Lucía Jiménez , emphasizes that they wanted to listen directly to the citizens and learn what criteria they consider priorities for ensuring that the allocation of public housing is transparent, objective, and reflects the reality of the municipality.
The results also reflect very high levels of support for measures aimed at ensuring the proper use of public housing. 98,3% of participants consider regular inspections necessary to prevent potential fraud, while 99,4% believe the City Council should take firm action against any violations. These results thus reflect public opinion both on the conditions for accessing public housing and on the mechanisms designed to preserve its social purpose.
The consultation was designed to listen to the public before defining the criteria for the housing allocation ordinance, incorporating participation and transparency into the process. The more than 350 contributions collected provide direct insight into the participants' positions on aspects such as community ties, access for young people, family and economic circumstances, scoring criteria, and oversight mechanisms, gathering citizen information on the priorities expressed regarding municipal public housing.
