The City of Rovaniemi has already sent more than 200 requests to stop accommodation in the dwelling

Rovaniemi’s building control has so far not imposed any fines on short-term tenants. However, the number of requests for clarification and termination notices sent has increased.

The City of Rovaniemi has recently sent out numerous calls to stop accommodation in residential apartments.

Just a month ago, the city’s building control department had sent more than a hundred notices to sites where it had found that the activity was illegal. Now, more than 200 apartments have already been sent notices.

The number of requests for clarification sent has also increased. Just a month ago, there were more than 200 requests for clarification, but now there are more than 300. A request for clarification sent to a homeowner or landlord is a survey of the occupation of the dwelling in question.

However, the number of requests for measures received by the city has not increased. About a hundred of them have been made in total. Anyone can make a request for measures to the building control regarding an apartment where they suspect illegal activities.

Outdated legislation

Even in Rovaniemi, short-term rentals, which have quickly become common, are helplessly practiced according to outdated legislation. Today’s law does not recognize the term short-term rental and in practice only prohibits the so-called clandestine hotel operation.

The section of the Construction Act regarding short-term rental is currently being revised in the Ministry of the Environment.

Rovaniemi’s building supervision uses the short-term rental of the hallmark apartments of the accommodation industry prepared by the Building Inspection Association.

However, according to the city attorney, the set of signs is not exhaustive. It is a matter of case-by-case overall consideration.

– It has been used as a good illustration of the characteristics influencing the judgment in the case, Alanne says.

Difficult to find out

Both the sign set and the city’s own guidelines point to the fact that *repeated* lodging of tourists in an apartment intended for living is not allowed.

Repetition is assessed by the building inspectorate based on previous precedents of the Supreme Administrative Court.

– Finding out whether a single case should be considered an unauthorized accommodation activity is laborious, says Alanne.

Intervening in unauthorized accommodation operations, on the other hand, is clear, but time-consuming, according to Alante. In Rovaniemi, the processes take, for example, the entire workload of one assisting lawyer.

All current decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court concern the renting of more than one apartment. According to Alante, Rovaniemi has also prepared for cases to go all the way to court.

– Yes, this kind of thing is certainly to be expected.

Complaints possible in Rovaniemi too

In November, the building control of the city of Oulu received a notice from the ombudsman of the parliament that it had intervened in Airbnb operations illegally.

It was about the short-term rental of city center apartments, which according to the city had characteristics of accommodation. Among other things, those who rented out their apartments had been given threatening fines.

According to the decision, neither the law nor the court has taken a position on how short rental periods are accommodation activities or when the short-term rental of a furnished apartment turns into accommodation activities.

The investigation of the case did not use a case-by-case overall consideration, which had jeopardized the equal treatment of shareholders.

In his decision, the ombudsman also brought up the protection of property. The relevant fundamental right requires that the shareholder can rent residential apartments under his control also for a short period of time.

According to Alante, complaints are also possible in Rovaniemi. In order to avoid them, the city plans to act \”carefully within the limits set by laws and regulations\”.

– As the decision indirectly shows, the threatened fine procedure is a powerful means of coercion and requires a thorough investigation, Alanne says.

*Have you received a clarification request from the city of Rovaniemi or an invitation to stop accommodation operations? Leave us your contact information, we’ll talk about it.*

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