Renters are more specific than before about the condition and location of the apartment. Large apartments outside the city center threaten to remain empty.
Rental apartments have quieted down in Inkeroin, about half an hour’s drive from the center of Kouvola. Very soon, a three-story house built in the 1970s, which used to be the city’s rental apartments, will be razed to the ground.
In the center of Kouvola, on the other hand, rental apartments and especially two-bedroom apartments are interesting. A new house is planned for Halkotori, close to good transport connections.
The situation is familiar from other cities as well. Municipal rental housing companies are demolishing houses in more remote areas and building new ones in their core centers.
The location is important for the tenant
The location is highlighted in the demand for rental apartments. Different neighborhoods have their own reputations.
Houses are now being demolished from old settlements in several cities, but there will not necessarily be new ones. The whole is still affected by the demolition.
The most requested apartment is now a studio or two-room apartment near the services of the city center.
Quality requirements have increased
According to Juha Tiita of Kotka Vuokra apartments, the quality level requirement has increased in the last 15 years. The wish is often for a clean, renovated apartment in a good location. Transport connections are also important.
Homes with large square meters, which are located in an older building outside the city center without an elevator, are threatening to become empty.
– Tenants’ wishes are still different, and generalizations cannot be made. On the other hand, although tenants’ wishes have become stricter, for example, saunas are not asked as often as before, says Tiitta.
Today, instead, one can wish for air conditioning.
In areas where demand does not meet supply, repair is not profitable. On the other hand, rental buildings that have reached the end of their life cycle are also demolished in the city centers.
There are still agglomerations outside the centers that are along good transport connections and attract residents. For example, a new townhouse site is being planned in Iittala, Hämeenlinna.
Students leave the cells
Large cell apartments no longer attract students, and therefore they threaten to remain empty. Changes in the location of workplaces and study places affect the popularity of apartments. This has happened in Seinäjoki.
Students’ wishes have changed, but the aging population is also changing the demand for rental housing.
As the condition deteriorates, there are even more requests for barrier-free housing.
– We try to ensure that people are able to live in their homes longer. And about energy efficiency, so that the maintenance costs of the apartment remain low, says Jari Niemi from Kouvola’s Apartments.
Energy solutions under the magnifying glass
The effects of the war in Ukraine on construction and the energy crisis have already shaken the housing market. In the rental apartments of the future, special attention will be paid to heating methods.
– Lahti will invest in energy efficiency in the future. In energy solutions, we prefer hybrid thinking. For example, we have built solar power plants for electricity production at our new production sites, says Jukka Anttonen from Lahden Talot oy.
In some localities, for example in Pori, new construction production is on hiatus due to the cost of building materials. Now we are renovating old sites, but we are looking to the future.