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1. Dwelling stock 2009

Over 2.7 million dwellings

At the end of 2009, there were 2 785 000 dwellings in Finland. The dwelling stock went up by 16 500 dwellings from the previous year. From year 1990, the building stock has increased by 575 000 dwellings, or by about 30 000 dwellings per year. The growth in the building stock has been slowing down from the preceding decade. In the 1980s, the building stock still grew, on average, by 37 000 dwellings per year. Residential building construction has centred in the biggest cities. Over 77 per cent of the dwellings completed in the 1995-2009 period are located in urban areas.

New dwellings usually in blocks of flats

Around one half of Finns live in detached houses, although only 40 per cent of dwellings (1,126,000) are in detached houses. Terraced houses had 380,000 dwellings, that is, 14 per cent of the dwelling stock. Of all dwellings 44 per cent, or 1,221,000 dwellings, were in blocks of flats, although only one third of the population live in blocks of flats. The explanation is that dwellings are smaller in blocks of flats, so smaller families or household-dwelling units live in them than in terraced or detached houses.

As recently as 1990, the numbers of dwellings in detached houses and blocks of flats were still almost equal. At that time, dwellings in blocks of flats numbered 939,000 and those in detached houses only 4,000 fewer. The share of dwellings in blocks of flats grew over the 1990s, however. At the end of 2009, there were 96,000 more dwellings in blocks of flats than in detached houses. The number of terraced houses has grown over tenfold since 1970. In 1970 they numbered only 30,000 but the figure had gone up to 380,000 by the end of 2009.

Average floor area of dwellings 79 square metres

In 2009 the average floor area of a dwelling was 79.4 square metres. The average floor area of the dwelling stock has grown by about 19 square metres since 1970. The average floor area of a one-room unit was 34 square metres, that of a two-room unit 55 square metres, and that of a three-room unit and a kitchen 79 square metres. The average floor area of an owner-occupied dwelling was 94 square metres, and that of a rental dwelling 54 square metres. Despite the growth in the average size of dwellings, there were about 117,000 dwellings of under 30 square metres. In contrast, only 26 per cent of dwellings have a floor area of over 100 square metres. There are 408,000 one-room units with a kitchen or kitchenette, i.e. 15 per cent of the dwelling stock. The most common type of dwelling is a two-room unit. There are 832,000 two-room units with a kitchen or kitchenette, i.e. 30 per cent of the dwelling stock.

Table 1. Floor area per dwelling (m2) by type of building 1970–2009

Year	Type of building
	Total	Detached houses	Attached houses	Blocks of flats	Other buildings
1970	60,0	66,0	73,0	51,0	54,0
1980	69,3	83,6	71,7	54,8	55,5
1990	74,4	95,3	70,2	55,8	59,7
2000	76,5	101,9	70,0	56,1	59,8
2009	79,4	108,0	71,1	56,5	60,9

Source: Dwellings and Housing Conditions, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Marja Hermiö (09) 1734 3211, Arja Tiihonen (09) 1734 3272, Elina Aspblad-Huohvanainen (09) 1734 3232, asuminen@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 12.11.2010