The Diputación de Lleida has allocated 3.5 million euros in a new call for housing aid from the Demographic Challenge to rehabilitate homes in rural municipalities at risk of depopulation. The institution is already evaluating the proposals submitted and expects the line to allow action on more than fifty homes.
The contrast appears when reviewing the scope of the call. Although the economic endowment grows and the objective exceeds 50 homes, for now the Diputación has received 21 applications to opt for the aid in a territory where population loss conditions access and conservation of the residential stock.
The Diputación plans to rehabilitate more than 50 homes with 3.5 million
Agustí Jiménez, first vice-president of the Diputación de Lleida, explained that the technical services are already studying the proposals registered in this new call. The institution's forecast is that the aid will reach the rehabilitation of more than fifty homes in rural municipalities in the province.
In the previous call, the Diputación financed the rehabilitation of 44 homes spread across 33 municipalities. That precedent places the new line above the volume of actions already executed, with a specific endowment aimed at retaining population in areas at risk of depopulation.
For now, the process adds up to 21 applications. The call is aimed at households in rural municipalities and is part of the territorial rebalancing policies that the provincial institution wants to strengthen in the comarcas of Lleida.
The SEDERURAL project adds training and basic services in small municipalities
The Diputación's strategy is not limited to housing rehabilitation. The institution has presented the candidacy of the Projecte per a la sensibilització, el desenvolupament i el reequilibri de les zones rurals de la província de Lleida, SEDERURAL, with several lines of action linked to rural areas.
This project incorporates Ruralforma-T for rural schools, Empodera-T for the training of rural women, and Serveis en Ruta. In the latter case, the initiative seeks to bring everyday services closer to small municipalities that do not have certain basic services.
Serveis en Ruta will connect professionals willing to travel with residents of these municipalities to facilitate services such as hairdressing or podiatry. The candidacy presented by the Provincial Council includes this measure as part of its development and rebalancing plan for the rural areas of the province of Lleida.
Jiménez has specified that the new housing call, endowed with 3.5 million euros, is already in the evaluation phase and that the Provincial Council's forecast is to rehabilitate more than fifty homes.