Tulcán creates the Municipal Land Bank and regulates the sale of lots

The Municipal Council of the Autonomous Decentralized Municipal Government of the Tulcán Canton approved the Ordinance creating the Municipal Land Bank and regulating the Lot Sale Program of the Tulcán Canton, published in the Official Registry, Special Edition No. 1657, on Friday, September 18, 2026, page 22. The regulation creates a land bank and a permanent program to allocate urbanized lots to families without legal access to housing. The text was sanctioned by Mayor Andrés Santiago Ruano Paredes on September 4, 2026, and certified by the Council Secretary, Patricio Imbaquingo Imbaquingo.

A diagnosis of vacant land in Tulcán and González Suárez

The ordinance is based on the Land Use and Management Plan of the urban parishes of Tulcán and González Suárez, where 21,048 properties were identified. Of these, 7,013 are vacant lots, equivalent to 33.32%, while 14,035 properties (66.68%) are not vacant.

The stated objective is to prevent city growth from depending on new peripheries and to take advantage of available land within the consolidated area. The regulation invokes Article 45 of the Regulations of the LOOTUGS, which defines the Land Bank as a reserve of unused land of municipal, state, or private ownership intended for public utility, managed through a georeferenced registry.

The Municipal Land Bank is managed by the Territorial Management Directorate, in coordination with the Head of Appraisals and Cadastres, the Syndic Attorney’s Office, the Financial Directorate, the Public Works Directorate, and EPMAPA-T. Every property shall enter via a technical report, a legal report, and a resolution from the Municipal Council, and must be georeferenced in the Municipal Geographic Information System.

Requirements and adjudication commission

Applicants must meet, at minimum, these requirements:

• Submit a request addressed to the Mayor of the GADMT.
• Be of legal age.
• Have been born in the Tulcán canton or prove a minimum residency of 10 years.
• Be registered in the Unique Municipal Registry of Beneficiaries.
• Not own properties in the Tulcán canton.
• Be a single mother or father, or head of household.

The Technical Commission for the Adjudication of Lots will verify the files and apply the Qualification Matrix. It is composed of the Director of Territorial Management, who presides over it; the Director of Citizen Participation; the Head of Appraisals and Cadastres; a delegate from the Syndic Attorney’s Office, with voice but no vote; the General Secretary; the Financial Director; and two council members designated by the Municipal Council.

Prices, terms, and lot reversion

The value of the lots will be determined by the Department of Appraisals and Cadastres based on the municipal appraisal, the land acquisition cost, and the urbanization works carried out. Payment may be made in cash, in installments, through municipal financing, or via agreements, with a down payment of 10% of the lot’s appraisal. Payment agreements shall have a maximum term of two years.

• The beneficiary must accept the adjudication in writing within ten business days.
• Selling the lot is prohibited for five years.
• The lot shall revert to the municipality in cases of fraud or falsehood, serious breach of contract, use incompatible with territorial planning, or express waiver.
• 100% of the program’s resources will go to the Municipal Land and Urbanization Fund.

The ordinance stipulates that, within a maximum period of 90 days from its publication, the Mayor shall establish the Municipal Land Bank and prepare its initial inventory, while the Territorial Management Directorate prepares the registry of properties eligible to be incorporated into the program.

Impact for the canton

The regulation transforms the municipal real estate assets into a strategic land reserve and conditions their sale to rules of transparency, deadlines, and reversion, so that access to housing no longer depends on the purchase of peripheral land. For families without property in the canton, it opens a formal path for adjudication; for the municipality, it mandates the inventory and georeferencing of its properties within 90 days and the full reinvestment of the program’s income.

Source: Official Registry, Special Edition No. 1657, Friday, September 18, 2026, p. 22 (official reference: Ordinance creating the Municipal Land Bank and regulating the Lot Sale Program of the Tulcán Canton).