Rental housing is becoming more common: The million limit broken in Finland

Rental homes the amount exceeded the symbolic million border laundryStatistics Finland said on Friday. However, rental housing is unevenly distributed in Finland.

48 percent of all apartments in the six largest cities were rented, while the share of the entire country is 36 percent. The apartment refers to all those who permanently live in the apartment, such as a family.

“Urbanization is visible. Of course, there are other growth regions, but big cities are the most visible,” comments the transport and urban policy expert Here is Puntanen About Finnish Entrepreneurs.

By big cities, he refers to the capital region and Tampere, Turku and Oulu. In Helsinki, the number of rental apartments surpassed owner-occupied homes already in 2013.

Whence the popularity of renting is due?

“Over the past decade, a lot of housing production has been zoned in these cities,” says Puntanen.

In the largest cities, the share of self-financed rental apartments has increased by a good 10 percentage points since 2013. Self-financed apartments are built without government support, i.e. they are practically private rental apartments without income limits.

“Yes, it can be seen that the big players in general feel that it makes sense to produce rental apartments.”

Renter living in Vinkkel is perceived as a safe option in the current uncertain times, when confidence in the economy is wavering.

“It’s related to how people perceive their financial situation and the possibility of getting an owner-occupied apartment. Interest rates were high and consumer confidence was low, but these things go in cycles.”

For those looking to buy, there is light at the end of the interest rate tunnel. The most common reference interest rate for mortgages, i.e. 12-month Euribor decreases day by day. Last week it was recorded for a long time to start with the second.

However, there are risks associated with selling an old apartment, which, according to Puntanen, may have increased short-term renting recently. At that time, the old one is sold below before buying a new one, so as not to be trapped in two apartments. For the interim, a rented apartment will be taken.

in Finland it has long been thought that an owner-occupied apartment is the only real apartment. That myth is already starting to be broken.

The situation can also change in rural areas due to the age structure.

“The population is getting older. At some point, you have to think about how the single-family house works, if there is age and care needs. Even in the smallest towns, downtown living in an apartment building can become more common, because it is easier to live in them at a certain stage of life.”

What if it is does immigration affect the popularity of renting?

Puntanen has not studied the matter, but estimates that income and wealth have a greater influence than ethnic background in the choice of housing type.

“Then, of course, there is the fact that it is convenient for the tenant to move to another location in the labor market reasonably easily.”