Finance of housing companies: documentation of statistics

The statistics on the finance of housing companies describe the financial statements, expenditure and income of housing companies. The statistics contain data classified by area, type of building and year of completion. The purpose of the statistics is to provide data on the development of expenditure and income of housing companies on the annual level.

Housing companies located in Finland comprise the population of the housing companies. In 2020, they totalled approximately 89,000. However, only the housing companies in which the total floor area of dwellings is sufficiently large are included in the sample.

The statistical unit is a housing company.

The data of the statistics are published as the value cents/m²/month.

The reference period of the statistics is a year. The inquiry for the statistical reference year concerns the accounting period that ended at the latest three months after the end of the reference period of the statistical reference year.
Only the housing companies with an accounting period lasting 12 months are included in the statistics. The data in the publication may partly be preliminary financial statement data.

The statistics on the finance of housing companies are published on the level of the whole country and by major region.

The statistics are based on a sample survey. The coverage of the sample of housing companies is approximately four per cent of the population. Reliability of the time comparisons is improved by the fact that only one third of the sample changes each year, that is, each housing company is included in the sample for three years at a time.

The sampling frame of the statistics on the finance of housing companies comprises the housing companies in which the total floor area of the dwellings, as defined in the real estate register, is at least 700 m2 (blocks of flats) or at least 500 m2 (terraced houses). Approximately 43,000 housing companies remain in the actual sampling frame (in 2019) and from this, around 3,200 companies are selected to the sample using simple stratified random sampling. Thus, the sample has a coverage of approximately four per cent of the population and seven per cent of the sampling frame. The sample is drawn from the real estate register of the Finnish Tax Administration.

Data on housing companies’ maintenance costs and income are available from 1980 onwards. Comparable data on government-subsidised rental buildings are available for the period 1980 to 2008. On the website, the data in the tables are available starting from 2009, when the minimum floor area of terraced houses included in the statistics was lowered from 700 to 500 m2. Data prior to that have been archived.

The statistical data are published annually on Statistics Finland’s website.

The purpose of the statistics is to describe the average income and expenditure of housing companies, which should be taken into account when comparing data on individual companies with the data of the statistics. Specific characteristics of housing companies, such as rental plot, substantial renovations or rental income, should also be taken into account.

The data of the statistics are based on euro-denominated financial statements of housing companies. There may be reporting errors in the data collection, but in connection with the validation, the aim is to correct erroneous data or remove clearly deviating observations. 

The financial statements of housing companies do not directly contain itemised data on the breakdown of renovation building costs between annual repairs and renovations. In the statistics, the number of annual repairs is estimated by deducting capitalisations in the balance sheet from renovation costs.

The statistics are published approximately within six months after the end of the reference period.

The data are published on the days indicated in the release calendar.

The statistics are produced using major regions according to the EU’s regional classification system NUTS2 (classification that entered into force on 11 July 2003). The statistics are thus internationally comparable and cover the whole of Finland. The classification Greater Helsinki and rest of Finland is also used.

Comparable data on housing companies’ maintenance costs and income are available from 1980 onwards. Comparable data on government-subsidised rental buildings are available for the years 1980 to 2008.

The structure of the sample used in the statistics on the finance of housing companies was changed for 2009 so that for terraced houses, the minimum floor area was lowered from 700 to 500 m2. In the same connection, the share of the rotated sample drawn in 2010 increased exceptionally to 53 per cent of the sample. The change may have had a slight effect on the breakdown of expenditure items in the profit and loss accounts for terraced houses.

In addition to the statistics on the finance of housing companies, there are no other publications measuring the expenditure and income of housing companies. The statistics on renovations of buildings and apartments utilise data on the renovation costs of terraced houses and blocks of flats collected in a joint data collection with the statistics on the finance of housing companies.

The data on all respondents have been collected and processed in a uniform manner.

The data on housing companies are based on a sample survey in which the data required for the compilation of the statistics are collected from the managers of the housing companies selected to the sample. Housing company managers can submit the data on the housing companies they represent to Statistics Finland electronically on an online form. The Tax Administration’s real estate register is used for drawing the sample of housing companies.

The data are primarily collected with a web form from the housing companies selected to the sample.

The data collection is carried out annually.

After the data have been validated, calculations for the Consumer Price Index and for the statistics on the finance of housing companies are carried out.

Geometric averages of the management charges and water charges are calculated for the Consumer Price Index, and they are summed up by region. The annual change from the previous year’s data is formed from these.

After the validation, weighting coefficients are created for the strata for calculation of averages for the statistics on the finance of housing companies. The averages of the profit and loss account items are calculated in accordance with different classifications and limitations.

The data are checked after the end of the data collection. The correctness of the maintenance and water charges for April of the current year are checked first for the Consumer Price Index. These data may differ from the profit and loss account of the accounting period (statistical reference year) if the maintenance charge has changed after the end of the accounting period. The correctness of the data is determined by comparing the euro amounts per square metre of maintenance charges in different years by housing company. Exceptionally great changes are not accepted. The maintenance charge may not include the charge for common capital expenditures or the water charge.

For the statistical release, the final sums of the profit and loss account are compared with the reported and imputed data, which must match. Erroneously entered items are located and corrected, if possible, utilising the notes to the financial statements. Concerning repair expenses, excluded are such observations where the repair expenses per square metre are exceptionally high.

It is also checked that floor area data for the housing company are not missing or reported incorrectly. The floor area of the housing company buildings must be reasonably divided between premises owned by shareholders and the housing company. Over half of the total floor area of the dwellings in the housing companies is specified in the articles of association as residential apartments in the possession of shareholders.

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The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics. 

Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.  

Further information: Statistical legislation

The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed in accordance with the requirements of the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018). The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. Statistics Finland has compiled detailed directions and instructions for confidential processing of the data. Employees have access only to the data essential for their duties. The premises where unit-level data are processed are not accessible to outsiders. Members of the personnel have signed a pledge of secrecy upon entering the service. Violation of data protection is punishable. 

Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)

The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. The unit-specific data of the calculation data must be kept confidential. Data are handled only by persons who need the data in their work. The use of data is restricted by usage rights. The phases of the statistical production process produce an end result that does not enable identification of individual data producers. All employees have signed a pledge of secrecy, where they have obliged to keep secret the data prescribed as confidential by virtue of the Statistics Act or the Act on the Openness of Government Activities. The data of the statistics are published on a less detailed level, so the data protection of individual respondents is not endangered.

The statistics on housing prices comply with active data protection. The aim of data protection for the statistics on housing prices is that the sales price or rent of an individual dwelling or financial statement data of an individual housing company cannot be deduced from the figures published by Statistics Finland. Individual data suppliers cannot be identified from the published data.

Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data are public after they have been updated in the web service. 

Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland

The data of the statistics are published annually in June on the home page of the statistics.

Statistical data are published as database tables in the StatFin database. The database is the primary publishing site of data, and new data are updated first there. When releasing statistical data, existing database tables can be updated with new data or completely new database tables can be published.   

In addition to statistical data published in the StatFin database, a release on the key data is usually published in the web service. If the release contains data concerning several reference periods (e.g. monthly and annual data), a review bringing together these data is published in the web service. Database tables updated at the time of publication are listed both in the release and in the review. In some cases, statistical data can also be published as mere database releases in the StatFin database. No release or review is published in connection with these database releases. 

Releases and database tables are published in three languages, in Finnish, Swedish and English. The language versions of releases may have more limited content than in Finnish.   

Information about changes in the publication schedules of releases and database tables and about corrections are given as change releases in the web service.

Revisions – i.e. improvements in the accuracy of statistical data already published – are a normal feature of statistical production and result in improved quality of statistics. The principle is that statistical data are based on the best available data and information concerning the statistical phenomenon. On the other hand, the revisions are communicated as transparently as possible in advance. Advance communication ensures that the users can prepare for the data revisions. 

The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before. 

Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data.

The data collected for the statistics are compared with the figures for previous years concerning the housing companies that have been included in the sample in successive years. Reliability of the time comparisons is improved by the fact that only one third of the sample changes each year, that is, each housing company is included in the sample for three years at a time. The accuracy of the reported data is extensively assessed in the data validation process. Cases with exceptional values in the profit and loss account data or where profit and loss account items do not match are excluded from the statistics.

Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The quality management framework of the field of statistics is the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP). The frameworks complement each other. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are also compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice. 

Further information: Quality management | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)

Data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may only be handled at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published. 

Further information: Publication principles for statistics 

Unless otherwise separately stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer of the data and the owner of the copyright. The terms of use for statistical data.