Finland - big country, small houses
From 6d…
Based on 2003 statistics, a Finn has on average 31m² of living space. This despite the fact that Finns have the most outdoor space per capita. Among the 15 EU countries, the 31m² is the fifth lowest, followed by Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain, each of which have only marginally less living space. The Danish live most comfortably, by having 52m² of living space, also above 40m² of space are Luxembourgers, Swedes and the Dutch.
Finland is the sparsest populated country in the EU, yet the fifth lowest living space? That’s distressing.
In regards to house loan rates, Finns fare well in second place. The variance of new loans is quite small, however, ranging from 3.1% (Netherlands) to 4.3% (Germany). In comparison of debt levels, Finnish house loans are the third lowest relative to GDP. Relative to others, the average house loan of a Finn is also the second lowest.
Maybe if Finns spent more on houses, they’d have bigger homes?
I wonder if summer cottages are included in that figure.
Comment by Antti — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 8:14 am
If you have a big house or apartment, your neighbours and friends will get jealous. 50 years ago usually the whole family inclunding children and grandparents lived in a 20m2 apartment containing only 1-2 rooms.
I would rather live in a 200m2 aparthment than the present one which is just 53m2. Small rooms + lots of stuff = hard to clean.
Comment by Timo — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 8:30 am
Look, Finns live in cramped spaces for many reasons, not the least of which is by choice. A lot of Finns own a cottage in the countryside, this is propably not counted in the area. It wouldn’t make a lot of difference if it was, though. Few people have bigger cottages than their homes are.
On thing is, that Finnish building costs are higher. This is partly due to inflexibility, part of which is caused by zoning and other regulations, in the building industry. Some of it is due to the fact that Finland is a sparsely populated country, markets are not very competetive. A lot has to be contributed to the fact that it is very cold and thus houses are a little more expensive to build and maintain.
I live in an apartment of 70m^2 with my family. There are three of us, two adults and an infant so we have only some 23m^2 per person. I don’t think it is cramped. Yet.
Comment by Tiedemies — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 8:40 am
More money one houses? I can’t even afford the current one!!!
Comment by Hank W. — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 8:43 am
one reason is also the regulations on how many stories the buldings can be. Thats the main reason to why there isnt enough affordable apartments downtown helsinki
Comment by Hunser — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 9:16 am
I think one of the main reasons is the cost of building and heating a larger house. As long as you live in an apartment or other house where the heating costs don’t come directly from your own pocket you’ll never realise how much of an effect winter has.
But cabins and such probably also have an effect, in practise you can think of many people having two homes (and possibly two loans). That does tend to make both places a bit smaller than either would be by itself.
Comment by ramin — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 11:42 am
I would also live in a small, but well-insulated home than a larger, cold one. For example in Copenhagen, Denmark, it is still pretty common for people to only use a few rooms of their apartment during the winter. Many older apartment buildings don’t have proper bathrooms, either.
I do, however, agree that we Finns could afford a bit more living space.
Comment by Anzi — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 11:56 am
I don’t think it’s about how much Finnish people put money in their houses.
I think it’s more about how much a landowner is allowed to build on his property. In Finland, these things are tightly regulated in different ways (for example there’s this thing called “aravalaina” a type of loan, which is given only if the building fits certain size which is considered standard).
Comment by Mikko Gr?¶nroos — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 3:09 pm
In Helsinki I have an apartment of 80 m2, in the country a summer house of 270 m2. As retired my wife and I stay six months in both.
We could stay in the country the whole year, but the eating costs
would be too high.
Comment by roope — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 5:41 pm
errata corrige: “heating costs”, not “eating costs”
Comment by roope — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 5:43 pm
i have no idea how they got these stats im from ireland and most people live in houses not apartments normally 3 or four bedroom houses and the old days of 15 kids in irish catholic family are well gone i think someone had mushroom sandwich before writing these stats. i love livin in finland but the smaller much smaller living space is the only downside, i have never understood it with the space in finland, winter heating is the only explanation i have come up with.
Comment by sppuuddy — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 6:03 pm
It depends on who you share the cramped space with.
Comment by Helsinkian — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 6:25 pm
roope there gives the main reason for this: Finns tend to have summer houses or cottages, which are not included in those statistics. Think about Danes - I haven’t seen any statistics about it, but I’d bet they don’t much have summer houses.
so, roope and his wife - 40m2, or 175m2 per nose?
Comment by MHH — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 6:26 pm
I’m in the minority of 7% of Finns who wouldn’t even want to have a summer cottage. If that poll is accurate, I’m very surprised we’re that many. Are the others also happy Helsinkians or do they live somewhere where there’s plenty of space anyway?
Comment by Helsinkian — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 6:36 pm
“Finland, big country, two houses per family”
Forgot commenting my housing - I live alone, 32m2 in the most expensive apartment house area in Finland. With the price of this flat, one could easily build +200m2 house in the countryside.
I don’t have a summer house, but my parents and friends have.
Comment by MHH — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 7:35 pm
Finnish houses and apartment blocks are built to last, unlike in North America where single-generation houses are more common.
Comment by Markku — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 8:34 pm
Feeling crampy? Take a risk. Fall in love with a girl from northern Finland, sell your skanky flat in Helsinki and use the money for a decent house and a car here. Enjoy the open spaces and straightforward people.
Comment by antti (the red neck one) — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 9:48 pm
Well, I did the reverse allmost 10 years ago - left my girl, sold my apartment and car, and moved more than 800 km south.
BTW, the compairson here is within europe - I’v also lived in north america, where they count every trailer and card box shack as house.
I prefer living here.
Comment by MHH — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 10:35 pm
Luxembourgers??? Wiiihiii. Yes I’m one of them now. On my own and 70m2. How’s about that then??? Maybe I need an au pair.
Comment by Jukka — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 11:43 pm
Luxembourgers??? Wiiihiii. Yes I???m one of them now. On my own and 70m2. How???s about that then??? Maybe I need an au pair.
SDPer my arse!! You’re a spy for Kokoomus and I’m going to tell the world about your secret!!
Comment by Phil — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 11:45 pm
You can imagine the trouble I’m having with a presidential race in Finland. Vote with my Party, SDP. Or vote for the male, bachelor, banker from Luxembourg. I’m a male, bachelor, banker from Luxembourg…OH DEAR!!!!
Comment by Jukka — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 11:54 pm
Phil, You are right. As many commenters here too.
Biding or buying houses is very expensive here, especially Helsinki region, because of land use regulation and building (safety, energy efficiency, esthetity etc) regulations.
Our new mayor Jussi Pajunen expressed it clearly. City of Helsinki owns 75% of the land, 15% is owned by the state and only 10% by private persons or companies.
(said also here http://www.hel.fi/ksv/english/currentplanning.html)
There are too many powerful people who like the idea, that building land is expensive. And that “raw land” can be transformed to “usable land” only by politicians and professional planners and architects.
See http://www.hel.fi/ksv/english/index.html
and wonder, why they do not say a word about Helsinki-Malmi Airport in English, although in Finnish they claim, that the airport must be demolished, because otherwise people cannot get bigger houses and apartments in Helsinki.
http://www.hel.fi/ksv/projektit/malmi/index.html
See also http://www.wmf.org/html/programs/finhel.html
Comment by Malmi-fan — Thu, Jun 2nd, 2005 @ 9:44 am
Hi Phil,
I agree with others about the high costs of apartments and houses, but I have another explanation too. It is expensive and many of us are down right horrified about the amounts of loan you need to build a huge house. At least I am, and I bet few other people living in northern Finland agree with me. If depression hits the house is worth nothing, if it is situated in sparsely populated area, and when you loose your job you’re in trouble. Let’s just say that I know few horror stories from the early 90’s. So, I will take the smallest loan possible to build a functional and nice house.
Comment by sanna — Thu, Jun 2nd, 2005 @ 10:29 am
More liberal housing regulation would result in more affordable housing. The best judge of what works best is the market, not some academic bureaucrat or an aesthete.
Of course, some regulation is important, as even the marketplace relies on some standards of measure, in order to set prices. But communities should be able to adopt these kinds of regulations on a local basis, instead of being handed the rules from uphigh. The resulting competition between communities will keep government officials sufficiently on their toes to do what’s best for their communities.
As to building housing that will last, even that should be decided by the market. Just erecting more expensive buildings that will last longer will mean less housing on the market….
Comment by Finnpundit — Thu, Jun 2nd, 2005 @ 6:57 pm
I have been to Finland several times with my Finnish-born wife who has many relations there still. The idea of a cottage by the lake seems to be ingrained in the Finnish culture and was something her parents brought with them to North America 50 years ago. As much as possible weekends and holiday were spent at the cabin even though it was more than a two hour drive from the city. Enjoying the sauna with its wood burning stove and dipping into the lake or fishing for Winnipeg goldeye meant more to them than having a big house in the city. On a more recent visit with a cousin’s family living in the same small Finnish town from where my wife was born, we were surprised to discover that their cabin by the lake was only 10 minutes from their, (in this case), spacious home in the town. As we experienced the cabin with of course the sauna and the delicious Finnish dishes and wonderful hospitality, it seemed to us that the attraction of the cabin by the lake is still a powerful one.
Comment by Vancouverite — Sat, Jun 4th, 2005 @ 2:03 am
Finnpundit - its the resale value stupid. I wouldn’t pay a penny to “own” something that had no resale value. Maybe some slum lord trying to cash a quick buck might build some barracks, but the only people living in them would be winos…. then again the slum lords charging the city for housing winos in dorms leech the society enormous amounts it would be cheaper to put the wino on a holiday in Greece for a month than a week in a dorm here.
Comment by Hank W. — Mon, Jun 6th, 2005 @ 8:52 am
You can also take a look at some relevant pages on- Tons of interesdting stuff!!!
Comment by pharmacy technician online sites — Wed, Oct 5th, 2005 @ 10:45 am
What percentage of People in Finland live in houses? Here in Britain it is estimated that roughly 76% of the population do, but I was wondering what it is like in Sweden?
Comment by Anonymous — Tue, Oct 11th, 2005 @ 6:55 pm
Please could somebody answer my query? I would be really grateful.
Comment by Trevor — Mon, Oct 17th, 2005 @ 5:38 pm
Please could you answer my question for me 6d?
Comment by Trevor — Thu, Oct 20th, 2005 @ 1:04 pm