With starting point in current housing policy debates in Sweden, where the deregulated rental market in Finland is used as an example of a better functioning housing market, this thesis aims to investigate if this image is shared by the Finnish experts in rental housing related questions. Based on eight semi-structured interviews, the precarious living conditions on the Finnish rental housing market are revealed and discussed in relation to the theoretical framework of housing inequality. Finland’s market liberal approach to housing provision has created good conditions for investing in housing that is reflected on the supply of rental housing on the private sector. Rental apartments on this sector are small, referred to as ‘tube studios’ and ‘suicide studios’, unaffordable for many, and the legal framework provides little security for the tenants causing uncertainty about the future. Furthermore, a number of reforms are currently being carried out to decrease state support in providing affordable housing and access to social housing, referred to as ARA-housing, is to be limited for the worst-off population. In light of these results this thesis aims to provide an alternative image to the market dominated discourse and argues that behind the numbers of constructed units and vacancy rates, a wide range of precarious housing conditions exist. This precarity affects first and foremost residents on private sector and is expected to become a bigger issue and impact a greater number of people in the future when the political reforms currently under way are rolled out.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mau-68252 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Pärssinen, Oskari |
| Publisher | Malmö universitet, Institutionen för Urbana Studier (US) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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