The researcher tested the Finnish housing policy: to what extent it is selective or universalistic and what are the current challenges?

This paper provides an introduction to the social, political and economic context in which architects design housing in Finland, with special emphasis on housing in Helsinki. It asks the following questions: what are the basic principles of housing policy in Finland; what role have architects played in the design of multifamily dwellings, especially those for households of limited means; and what are the most important challenges facing the designers of housing in the coming decades? 

This paper with its glossary and tables serves as a useful introduction for foreign students, researchers and experts who like to find out connections between Finnish housing policy, urban planning, housing design and architectural history of Helsinki.

Lately there has been growing interest to put Finnish housing into a wider context. Foreign experts evaluated the Finnish housing finance and support systems within the EMU environment in the year 2002. Finnish government was interested in adapting the Finnish housing to the extended and liberated financial market.

On the other hand there has also been a growing interest of foreign researchers in Finnish housing and Scandinavian social housing systems in general. Foreign researchers are often interested in the social housing system as an example of an effective welfare regime, successfully resisted such common urban problems as homelessness, distinctive public rental housing market and polarisation of residential areas. This interest mostly comes from countries where the importance of social housing is lesser and further  diminishing due to more market oriented approaches.

Three final observations are worth making on the nature of Finnish housing policy. First, public policy on housing is highly politicized in Finland from the macro to the micro levels. Officials representing the political spectrum formulate national legislation, approve city plans and budgets, and participate in the governance of the real estate management companies that run council housing.

Second, the apparently straightforward question of which policy instruments are included under the rubric of ‘housing policy’ or more specifically ‘housing supports’ is not so simple. The most obvious for inclusion are those mechanisms used by national and local government to increase the  production of reasonably-priced housing and to support the  renovation of existing housing stock.

The third and final observation revisits the question of social mixing, a bedrock principle of Finnish housing policy. A broad political spectrum in Finland supports the idea of mixing in one neighbourhood people of different income levels and different housing tenures.

Housing and the Finnish architecture profession

In summary, as housing authorities and designers in Finland look to the future, they will confront major challenges: the immediate and critical renovation needs of buildings that would be considered ‘middle aged’ in human life span terms; addressing the fit between the housing needs and preferences of Finland’s varied households and the housing available; and, with the goal of sustainable living in mind, creating intelligent housing alternatives for people.

City of Helsinki Urban Facts
Finland
Mr. Ari Niska (Researcher), tel. +358 9 310 36524

03/04/2007

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Cynthia Myntti

research

Urban Policy > Housing

Housing policy