Corona affects the economy and different sectors of industry at different rates. Construction has survived with relatively little damage since the beginning of the year, but the future prospects are already significantly more unstable. The builders of Varsinais Suomi are calling for smoothness in the processing of building permits, so that at least all unnecessary delays and obstacles in the way of construction can be removed. The construction situation will be highlighted on 22.10. in the published Varsinais-Suomen economic review.
The prospects for both construction and the general economy in Finland proper go hand in hand with the situation in the rest of the country. In the second quarter of the current year, 3,6 million cubic meters of various house construction works were started in the area. The amount is eight percent higher than the corresponding time in 2019. The number of granted building permits also increased by roughly the same amount.
The winner of the second quarter of this year was public service construction. Compared to the previous year, there was an increase of no less than 53 percent. Industrial and warehouse construction start volumes increased by 16 percent. Commercial and office building starts, on the other hand, decreased by 11 percent. However, the biggest decline was seen in housing construction. Apartment starts fell by 19 percent, but the number of new building permits instead rose 7 percent to a higher level than a year ago.
Looking at building types, the largest decrease, by almost a quarter, occurred in the number of apartment buildings started. Terraced houses went down by 11 percent and detached houses by four percent. In the prices of old apartment buildings, the trend was the opposite: prices rose in the second quarter of the year by 3,9 percent from the previous year.
As the general economic situation deteriorates, the corona pandemic also affects construction, but the Turku regional manager of the Building Construction Industry Markku Leppälehto reminds that the boom in construction reached its peak even before the start of the corona virus.
"Construction has been declining from its peak even before the corona, but the corona has accelerated the fall even more. In addition, Turku's construction supervision has almost a year's worth of permits waiting. This cannot be invisible in the amount of construction and employment."
Real Finnish construction industry entrepreneurs look back on the past half-year period with moderate satisfaction, giving it grades from good to satisfactory. However, the near future is seen more pessimistically. Builders, designers and building contractors alike anticipate a decrease in the number of their own jobs. Builders in particular highlight the delay in building permits as a factor hindering their own work.
Leppälehto emphasizes that, precisely in this situation, it is necessary to be able to remove all additional obstacles in the way of construction.
"Recently, there has been talk about corporate social responsibility. Now one could ask what the social responsibility of Turku's building control is."
For more information:
- Regional manager Markku Leppälehto
040 745 3930 / markku.leppalehto@rakennusteollisuus.fi - Chief Economist Jouni Vihmo
050 520 1636 / jouni.vihmo@rakennusteollisuus.fi - Report: Construction cycle in Varsinais-Suomi, October 2020