Additional development in Espoo
In Espoo, land use planning focuses on areas that have already been built, complementing the urban structure in a sustainable way. Espoo wants to be at the forefront of climate change mitigation also in this field. The floor space that the city land use planning allows nearly 8,000 people to move into new homes each year.
The city welcomes applications from housing companies for changes in local detailed plans and development projects which will enhance the urban environment. However, the shift of local detailed plans towards infill development increases the challenge of the work, and the complex planning issues of confined plots can lengthen the process.
An infill development project can start in several ways. The city itself can launch the project on its own, undeveloped plot. If the plot has already been built on, the initiative for additional development usually comes from the owner or occupier of the property.
If there is still building right left on the plot, a building permit can be applied for a project in accordance with the local detailed plan without changes to it or without a deviation decision. The building right and the current gross floor area of a plot can be obtained from the local detailed plan, for example in Espoo map service(external link, opens in a new window). Before preparing a development project, it is advisable to reach out to the planning authority of the area, which will assess the validity of the local detailed plan and the additional development project from the city's point of view; the city will not comment on the economic viability of the project.
The building control authority issues the building permits and minor deviations in connection with them. Greater than minor deviations from the local detailed plan or other regulations are handled by the City Planning Department as deviation decisions. When significantly extending an existing building or when building a completely new building on a plot, changes to local detailed plan are necessary in almost every case. See the attachment on deviation decisions.
After the local detailed plan enters into force, the Surveyor's Office will, at the request of the property owner, draw up a plot division or a plot division amendment for the block areas, after which the plot will be parcelled out. The Surveyor’s Office takes care of parcelling properties in the area of the local detailed plan and will enter the plot in the land register.
When infill plans are drawn up as changes to local detailed plans on land owned by private parties, a separate land use agreement is negotiated with the Plot Unit. A land use agreement sets out the rights and obligations between the parties, as well as the costs and benefits. A land use agreement can be made binding on the parties, once they have seen the draft of the plan. A binding land use agreement is a condition for the plan to enter into force. In the case of a leased plot, this will be negotiated separately with the Plot Unit well before starting the project. The landowner must provide a bank guarantee, mortgage or similar security, to be determined on a case-by-case basis, as security for the fulfilment of the obligations under the land use agreement.
According to the City of Espoo's principles for land acquisition and transfer and land use agreements (below), the contractual compensation based on the increase in value amounts from 40% to 60% of the benefit and is directed to the implementation of municipal infrastructure in the area. The compensation is only payable for benefits above the contract threshold of €250,000. In joint projects of several properties, each landowner benefits from the contract threshold, making joint projects more attractive.
In determining the land use compensation for infill residential blocks, the costs of the realisation of the new additional building right are taken into account. These may include the value of the yard area occupied by the new building, the cost of parking arrangements, the difficulty of implementation (e.g. additional floors) or, for example, the construction of lifts. A land use agreement is only concluded when the contractual compensation to be paid exceeds € 5,000. There is always a time limit for paying the compensation (usually three months).
The parking solution and scale is a key issue in infill development in terms of project feasibility and profitability. If an additional development project is located in the parking area of one or more companies, parking for old and new buildings will have to be arranged elsewhere. In practice, this often means a multi-storey car park, a roof car parking or possibly a centralised parking facility outside the plot. Shared parking, car sharing and undesignated parking spaces can reduce the need for parking even by 20 to 30%.
The parking space calculation guideline of City of Espoo was adopted in 2015. In connection with additional development, the need for parking space on a plot can be considered on a case-by-case basis, subject to certain conditions. In general, it is good for parking if a wider area than just one plot can be considered.
The role of the Building Control Department is to guide planning, direct and advise on construction and decide on building permits. In principle, a housing company's additional development project is treated as usual.
In Espoo there are two areas – Olari(external link, opens in a new window) and Kirkkojärvi(external link, opens in a new window) – for which guidelines have been drawn up on the procedures to be followed when converting first floor commercial spaces into apartments. In the part of the districts covered by the guidelines, the Building Control Department can grant a building permit for a change of use in situations where the deviation can be considered as minor. In other areas and in areas where parking assessments have identified a large shortage of parking spaces, the change of use requires a deviation decision granted by the City Planning Department.
In Espoo, reviews of infill development have been carried out in several districts as well as on many blocks. The review of infill development in Kivenlahti has sought after guidelines and principles for infill development in the area. Also the possibilities for infill development in Soukka are assessed together with the local residents, landowners and other stakeholders. Additionally, similar projects are ongoing in several different areas in Espoo.
When approving the infill development review in Karakallio to be considered as a guiding and evolving overall plan for future changes in local detailed plans in Karakallio, the City Planning Department decided to make Karakallio a pilot site for infill development. Infill development experiments have been made in detached house areas in Friisilä and Nöykkiö. A report (in Finnish) has also been made on the principles of increasing the height of Tapiola's residential buildings(external link, opens in a new window).