The Municipal Cooperation and Housing Secretary of theCabildo of Tenerife, Sonia Hernández, details the initiatives undertaken this year to “contribute to ensuring that the residents of Tenerife have guaranteed access to decent housing”.
Access to housing has become one of the main concerns for Tenerife residents today. In this regard, Hernández points out that “housing is also one of the major concerns we have in the island government”. “In fact, when we took office 8 months ago, the Cabildo had very limited competencies in the housing sector, and one of the first things we did was to promote a framework agreement with the Icavi (Canarian Housing Institute) to expand our competencies, allowing us to finance municipalities in purchasing houses for social renting”, she explains.
“This process has been an example of collaboration between administrations, thanks to which we were able to launch the Activa Vivienda programme, which involves the distribution of 10 million Euros among the municipalities of the island for the acquisition of finished or under-construction houses, so they can be allocated for social renting”, highlights the Secretary.
Understanding the Reality
The Municipal Cooperation and Housing Secretary of the island Corporation adds that “we have tried to understand the reality of Tenerife society, with the aim of implementing effective and, fundamentally, useful policies for the citizens, and in that context, we are regaining the leadership lost by the Cabildo in previous governments, once again positioning it as the reference institution of Tenerife”.
Similarly, Sonia Hernández emphasizes that the Activa Vivienda programme is “proof of our commitment to Tenerife society: we are not oblivious to reality and we do not settle for excuses regarding our competencies”. “That is why we engage in dialogue with other administrations: to be part of the solution, putting all the work, effort and resources possible at the disposal of the needs of the citizens. Activa Vivienda is a pioneering programme, thus, coming to provide housing solutions to people facing difficulties in accessing the housing market”.
The Tenerife Cabildo approved the implementation of the Activa Vivienda programme at the beginning of last February to facilitate access to social rentals. The initiative foresees an allocation of 5 million Euros – extendable to another 5 million – to collaborate with Tenerife municipalities in the acquisition of houses for social renting.
When asked about other initiatives that have been promoted from the department she leads to alleviate the housing problem in Tenerife, Hernández states that “in this financial year, we will allocate a total of 17 million Euros to the housing sector in Tenerife”. “In addition to Activa Vivienda, we have launched the Activa Suelo programme, aimed at municipalities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants. It has an initial credit of 1.5 million, and is designed for municipalities to buy land to hand over to ICAVI, and be able to build protected public promotion houses for rental. We are working to expand this programme to municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants”, clarified the island official.
Triple the Contribution
She emphasizes that “we have tripled the financial contribution to the Rehabilita Tenerife programme, whose purpose is to renovate and improve houses, adapting them to the needs of their users and to sustainability and energy efficiency criteria”.
“What is the roadmap that the department has set? Leadership, commitment, collaborative work between administrations, and loyalty to Tenerife. These are the elements that lay the foundation of our work, with the sole aim for Tenerife to prosper. I believe we are obligated to rise to the occasion and play a leading role in all policies that affect the improvement of the quality of life of the people of Tenerife. Housing plays a fundamental role in these policies”, concluded Sonia Hernández.
