Finland's biggest residential rental firm, Helsinki City Housing Company (Heka), has hundreds of vacant apartments — even though thousands of people are queuing for the city-owned firm's flats, Helsingin Sanomat (HS) has reported.
Heka holds a total of around 54,000 residential rental properties, but according to HS between 1,500 and 2,000 of those flats are empty.
The newspaper reported that dozens of Heka apartments have been left unoccupied for as long as two years after they were renovated.
Those vacancies cost the company around one million euros per month, Heka's customer relations chief Päivi Jokinen told the paper.
"The goal is to rent out all of the apartments. Nearly all of Heka's revenue comes from rent payments," she told HS.
Rent hikes
Last summer, Heka announced plans to raise rents by up to 12 percent from the beginning of this year. Then, in December, the City announced that rents would increase by 8.4 percent, following a City Board decision to hand the firm 17 million euros in extra funding.
However, later that month it was reported that some Heka tenants were still facing rent hikes of up to 12 percent, despite the additional funds it received. The company blamed the situation on rising costs, including interest rates.
Heka does not select the tenants for their apartments, as that task is handled by the City's Urban Environment Division's housing services unit.
Compared to private rentals on the market, Heka's apartments are relatively affordable, and charges its tenants just enough to cover its operating expenses. The vacant flats' effect on the company's bottom line is reflected in the amount of rent it charges its tenants, according to HS.
In March, Heka announced plans to cut up to 15 jobs in an effort to save around three million euros in personnel costs.
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