Espoo updated its housing and land use principles
The most important issues addressed in the principles were questions related to the diversity of housing production, land acquisition, the steady flow of income from land leasing and the sufficiency and transfer of commercial plots.
The housing and land use principles focus on measures that address these issues in the long term through housing and land use policy. You can find Espoo’s housing and land use principles here(external link, opens in a new window).
The changes made to housing principles include reducing the production target for Espoon Asunnot from 400 to 300 apartments per year. In the future, the city can also guide the distribution of housing types and dwelling sizes when concluding land use agreements or plot transfers. In addition, quality competitions will be used on a case-by-case basis in the application procedure for city-owned plots.
In terms of land use, the most significant changes have been made in the land use agreement principles. In land use agreements, the agreement threshold has been raised and the agreement compensation percentages have been specified. Agreement compensation will only be collected for the gain that exceeds the agreement threshold.
According to the Land Use and Building Act, when a detailed plan results in considerable financial gain for the landowner, the landowner must bear some of the costs of civil construction. The costs are primarily specified through a land use agreement.
The City Council approved the updated housing and land use principles in June.
Espoo’s former land acquisition and expropriation principles and land use principles were drawn up in 2015 and the housing programme in 2018. These have now been combined into housing and land use principles.