Optimal distribution of habitational units in a cooperative: A mathematical application to optimize satisfaction

This work presents an application of mathematical programming methods and their implementation in free software tools to develop a support tool for the assignment of habitational units in a cooperative. In Uruguay building and housing cooperatives have a history of developing housing solutions, at lower prices and higher quality levels than possible with traditional approaches. In these cooperatives, it is usual that, once the houses are built, the assignment to members is done randomly (ie, holding a lottery). In this work we develop a computational tool that can take into account the stated preferences of the cooperative members and generate assignments that maximize their satisfaction, with results of much higher satisfaction levels than those achieved using the traditional lottery method.