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Rents of new non-subsidised tenancies rose by an average of 3.5 per cent

The rents of new non-subsidised tenancies agreed in 2008 on the free rental market rose on average by 3.5 per cent from the year before.

In the Greater Helsinki Area, the rents of new tenancies rose by 4.7 per cent and elsewhere in the country by 3.1 per cent. The average rise in rents amounted to 5.7 per cent in Helsinki, 2.7 per cent in Vantaa and 1.6 per cent in Espoo. The rents of new tenancies went up by 3.8 per cent in Tampere, 5.2 per cent in Kuopio, 1.9 per cent in Jyväskylä, 5.3 per cent in Lahti and 4.8 per cent in Turku. In Oulu rents went down by 0.1 per cent.

In the Greater Helsinki Area, the average rent per square metre of new non-subsidised tenancies was EUR 14.35 per month. Elsewhere in the country, the average rent per square metre was EUR 9.46.

According to the sampling frame, there were approximately 107,000 new non-subsidised tenancies, which is 13 per cent less than in the previous year (122,500). Approximately 39.6 per cent of the new tenancies were for single room dwellings. In the Greater Helsinki the proportion of new tenancies for single room dwellings was approximately 46.5 per cent.

Bases for rent revisions

Index clauses were applied to rent revisions in 40.0 per cent new tenancy agreements; a fixed sum or percentage increase was used in 2.6 per cent of cases and other provision were applied in 27.6 per cent of agreements (incl. non-respondents). The basis on which rent would be revised was not stated in 29.7 per cent of new tenancy agreements.

Landlord category

The biggest single category of landlords are private individuals and death estates: 56.5 per cent of the respondents rented a dwelling from a private individual or a death estate. Housing associations accounted for 2.8 per cent of the landlords, while banks, insurance companies and non-financial corporations made up 8.4 per cent, and non-profit organisations, foundations, municipalities and other parties 32.3 per cent of the landlords.

Duration of tenancy agreement

The tenancy agreement with a new tenant was in force until further notice in 89.1 per cent of cases and for a specified time period in 10.9 per cent of cases.

Data of Rents of dwellings -statistics

The data in this publication describe rent levels and changes in rents in 2008. Detailed statistics have been updated into the database tables of the Rents of dwellings -statistics. The database tables and additional information are available at the homepage of the statistics: www.stat.fi > Topics > Housing > Rents of dwellings.

The rent statistics are calculated from data on 216,000 rental dwellings. The information on 200,000 dwellings is obtained from the Social Insurance Institution’s Housing Allowance Register and the data on rents for 16,000 dwellings come from the interviews conducted in connection with the La-bour Force Survey.

The data concerning rents in 2008 derive from those collected with interviews in connection with the monthly Labour Force Survey. Besides the data obtained with the interviews, the Social Insurance Institution’s Housing Allowance Register is also used as a data source for annual statistics on rents.

In addition to the interview data and the Housing Allowance Register, further data sources exploited in the compilation of these statistics include Statistics Finland’s data on the dwelling stock, derived from the Building and Dwelling Register of the Population Register Centre, and statistics on migration and population structure.

Looked at in longer term, data on housing rents have been collected in Finland since 1925. From 1925 through to 1965, the data were collected by a government agency for social surveys and published by the Ministry of So-cial Affairs. As of 1966, the rent survey has been conducted by Statistics Finland.

Besides these annual statistics, Statistics Finland publishes quarterly data on rents and these are available as of the beginning of 2003. The quarterly statistics is published approximately five weeks after the end of the reference quarter. The data contents of the quarterly statistics is less exhaustive than those of the annual statistics. The quarterly statistics are available at the homepage of the statistics: www.stat.fi > Topics > Housing > Rents of dwellings.

Figure 1. Development of average rents per square metre (€/m2/month) in the whole country 1975–2008

Source: Rents of dwellings, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Martti Korhonen (09) 1734 3451, Paula Paavilainen (09) 1734 3397

Director in charge: Kari Molnar

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Updated 20.2.2009