The economic situation in the construction industry is now on everyone's lips. The number of housing starts is predicted to drop this year to the post-war level, and next year is predicted to be very lean. Brand new building technology business cycle survey as well the results are, as expected, very minor winning. In terms of the schedule, building technology runs somewhat post-cyclically in the construction process. Contractors are particularly concerned about what will happen in the industry in the next few years. The question is whether renovation construction is the time to fill the gap left by new production in this economic situation.
In the government's budget scramble, it was decided to reform the legislation on the state guarantee of basic improvement loans of housing corporations. The work to reform the legislation regarding the state guarantee of basic improvement loans is of course worthwhile. In its own assessment, however, the government is of the opinion that the legal reform will only support the operating conditions of the construction industry in the medium term.
It is very unfortunate that faster-acting medicines to speed up the renovation construction were not decided upon in the government's budget rush. The result was poor in this respect. A quickly implementable method is both to increase the amount of the household deduction and to extend its use to renovations ordered by housing associations. It is clear that the incentives offered to residents to initiate renovation measures cannot depend on the chosen form of housing. In this economic situation, the building societies' repairs must be accelerated and the shareholders must be on the same page as the residents of single-family homes. The "technical" difficulty of expanding the form of support has previously been justified by the fact that the matter has not progressed in the preparation of the state administration. This view should now be put aside and action should be taken to speed up the renovation works.
The Ministry of the Environment proposed the continuation of energy subsidies for residential buildings in 2024, but unfortunately the matter did not progress to the finish line due to the budget crisis. In this case too, the importance of renovation was forgotten. The maintenance measures required by the buildings cannot be left exposed to the prevailing business cycles in housing associations. As the EU's legislative bodies come to a decision on the content of the building energy efficiency directive, building societies will face significant repair needs in the future to improve energy efficiency.
The suppression of new production naturally affects the sale and rental of apartments, also in the case of old apartments. Most of the time, apartments are renovated when the apartment is empty in connection with a change of tenants. A large part of these renovations now threatens to be completely undone, unless residents and owners are encouraged to renovate their current homes.
New builders cannot automatically switch to renovation construction in large numbers, even in a difficult economic situation. The right people have to manage e.g. the legal aspects of line renovation. And even in renovation construction, a contractor is always needed, and to encourage the implementation of the necessary renovation works, larger-scale and swift decisions are needed from the government.
Support for repair construction fell badly behind in the government's budget frenzy. The challenging economic situation in the construction industry would have required bolder decisions. It is in everyone's interest that the government comes back to the table in terms of supporting renovation construction.
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