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1. Dwelling stock 2020

3 million dwellings

At the end of 2020, there were 3,124,000 dwellings in Finland, of which 358,000 were without permanent occupants. The dwelling stock went up by 49,000 dwellings from the previous year. From 1990, the building stock has increased by 931,000 dwellings, or by about 31,000 dwellings per year. Compared to 1990, 201,000 more dwellings were without permanent occupants. The growth in the building stock has been slowing down from the preceding decade. Most dwellings have been built in the 1970s- and 1980`s. Residential building construction has centred in urban municipalities. In all, 80 per cent of the dwellings completed in the 1995 to 2020 period are located in urban areas.

47 per cent of all dwellings are in blocks of flats

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 2020, 47 per cent of all dwellings were in blocks of flats, i.e. 1,468,000 which is 289,000 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 420,000 by the end of 2020.

The number of blocks of flats with no lift relatively high

Since 2005 lift has been mandatory in new blocks of flats that have three storeys or more. Between 1995 and 2004 lift was mandatory in new blocks of flats that have four storeys or more. The number of blocks of flats with more than three storeys was around 26,500, of which 2,200 had no lift. Dwellings in blocks of flats with more than three storeys and no lift numbered 64,000 and had 85,000 occupants, of whom 14,000 were aged over 65. It was even less usual to have a lift in a three-storey building. 24 per cent of the 355,000 dwellings in buildings with three storeys were in blocks of flats with a lift. In all, 362,000 Finns, of whom 76,000 were aged over 65, lived in three-storey buildings with no lift.

35,800 dwellings were completed in 2020

In 2020, a total of 35,800 dwellings were completed, of which 6,300 were in detached houses, 2,900 in terraced houses and 26,300 in blocks of flats. Approximately 13,100 new dwellings were completed in Greater Helsinki, 11,300 of them in blocks of flats. 65 per cent of new dwellings in blocks of flats were rented dwellings at the end of 2020.

Figure 1. Dwellings completed in 2020, number

New blocks of flats completed in 2020 had over 15,200 rented dwellings. Around 4,400 of these were interest-subsidised rented dwellings supported by the state. Government-subsidised rented dwellings do not here include rented dwellings with short-term interest subsidy loans, or of the so-called interim model.

Average floor area of dwellings varies a lot

In 2020 the average floor area of a dwelling was 79.4 square metres. The average floor area of the dwelling stock has grown by about 20 square metres since 1970. The average floor area of a one-room unit was 34 square metres, that of a two-room unit 54 square metres, and that of a three-room unit and a kitchen 79 square metres. Despite the growth in the average size of dwellings, there were about 145,000 dwellings of under 30 square metres. In contrast, only 27 per cent of dwellings have a floor area of over 100 square metres. There are 481,000 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 938,000 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 in 1970–2020

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
2010	79,5	108,4	71,2	56,5	60,7
2015	80,0	111,0	71,3	56,4	60,9
2019	79,3	112,3	71,4	55,6	60,3
2020 1)	79,4	112,8	71,3	55,5	61,8

1) The type of building is formed based on the Classification of Buildings 2018.

The average floor area of an owner-occupied dwelling was 97 square metres and most of them are in detached houses. The average floor area of a rental dwelling was 52 square metres and most of them are in blocks of flats. In the dwelling stock statistics the tenure status is mainly defined for permanently occupied dwellings. The tenure status is also defined for a dwelling not permanently occupied when a dwelling is located in a rented dwelling subsidised by the state or a dwelling is temporarily occupied. Of all dwellings, the number of rented dwellings was more than a million at the end of 2020 and 953,000 of them were permanently occupied dwellings. The number of permanently occupied rented dwellings has grown by 212,600 since 2000.

Number of non-subsidised rented dwellings increased further in 2020

According to Statistics Finland, a total of 40,700 new dwellings were completed in 2020, of which 51 per cent were rented dwellings. Around 13,100 of the completed dwellings were new non-subsidised rented dwellings, and interest-subsidised rented dwellings were 4 900. Of the buildings completed in this decade approximately three times more are non-subsidised rented dwellings than interest-subsidised ones. Thirty-two per cent of these non-subsidised rented dwellings and 45 per cent of interest-subsidised rented dwellings are in Greater Helsinki.

Source: Dwellings and Housing Conditions, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Mika Ronkainen 029 551 3425, Anu Rämö 029 551 3450, info@stat.fi

Head of Department in charge: Hannele Orjala

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Updated 14.10.2021