– It is starting to become a big problem, says the municipal director in Kviteseid, Laila Thorsen. During the next couple of years, 55 out of 200 employees in the municipality may retire. She wonders how in the world they will manage to get new people for the jobs. There is no lack of interest in moving to the municipality, says Thorsen. But there is hardly a single vacant house for sale. – We have experienced that people want to apply for vacant positions in the municipality, but are reluctant because they see that there are no vacant homes, says Thorsen. She moved from Western Norway herself last year when she got the job as municipal director. The municipality has vacant plots that can be bought on the day, but there is zero demand, says the municipal director in Kviteseid, Laila Thorsen. Photo: VIGDIS HELLA / news But she still has to rent because she can’t find anything to buy. At the same time, the municipality has plots close to the city center for those who wish to build. – But with the increased price of fuel, electricity, food and housing, there is simply no one asking for it, she says. The price is so low that people keep their homes. The problem of housing shortage applies to many places in District Norway, says senior researcher Knut Vareide at Telemarksforskning. Although there are many dwellings per inhabitant, the dwellings are not accessible. – The prices are so low that people prefer to keep them, and perhaps switch to having them as holiday homes, he says. – Measures that can limit the loss of value can help if they are lasting, says senior researcher Knut Vareide at Telemarksforskning. Photo: Trond Vestre / news Building your own home in the districts means that he is worth less than he costs. – If you have to sell after a short time, you lose a lot of money. It is one of the reasons why few homes are built in the district, he says. In central areas, you can count on getting back at least the same as you invest. But it’s not like that in the suburbs, he explains. – When you know that you will not recover the construction cost, the risk is great, he says. Almost half of all the second-hand homes that were put out in the first three months of this year were in the ten largest urban areas in Norway, figures from Finn.no show. – Given that only 40 percent of the population lives in the specific urban areas, one can say that the housing offer for people in the Norwegian cities is greater than in the country so far this year, says Finn Eiendom’s manager, Jørgen Hellestveit. Asking for cheaper VAT Løysinga can be cheaper VAT for people who build houses in the villages, local politicians in Kviteseid Sp. This may mean that more people dare to build in the districts, points out Dordi Didriksen (Sp). – We have had young people who wanted to establish themselves, but who could not find housing. We have vacant plots, but it is too risky to build. Then they have bought or built housing where it pays, says Didriksen. – We have the workplaces, but not the homes. It’s a bad spiral and quite frustrating, says SP politician Dordi Didriksen in Kviteseid. He brought up the proposal for cheaper VAT at the national meeting in Sp earlier this spring. There she received an answer from Minister for Municipalities and Districts Sigbjørn Gjelsvik (Sp). – He was very aware of the problem and said that this is something they are already working on. They are not sure whether a VAT refund will be the solution, but a financial compensation that stimulates housing construction on the outskirts is on the agenda, says Didriksen. She believes there is an urgent need to take action. Without housing, the municipality misses out on new residents and tax revenue, she points out. – It does not help to invest in industry if there are no homes for those who wish to establish themselves. Working with measures – We are busy finding good solutions to these problems together with the municipalities, says Minister for Municipalities and Districts, Sigbjørn Gjelsvik (Sp). Minister for Municipalities and Districts Sigbjørn Gjelsvik (Sp) sees that many district municipalities have a challenge with little new construction and little variety of housing options. Photo: Kristoffer Steffensen Lenes / news In the spring of 2024, the government will submit a parliamentary report on healthy housing policy. – It is too early to say what concrete measures the report will contain, says Minister for Municipalities and Districts Sigbjørn Gjelsvik. The Minister of Local Government is nevertheless clear that the municipalities have a key role in housing policy, and can adapt measures locally. There are several possibilities for what the municipalities can do, he points out. Some municipalities are testing a municipal buy-back agreement to relieve the risk of financial loss when homes are sold. In addition, Husbanken has loans for housing quality in the least central municipalities, Gjelsvik explains. District municipalities can also apply for grants from their own scheme to test out new housing concepts, he points out. Would rather focus on other measures State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Lars Vangen (Sp), has little faith in the proposal from the party leader in Kviteseid. – We think it is better to use the budget to make targeted efforts to create activity throughout the country than to make complicated special rules within the value added tax, he says to news. He believes that it will be demanding to differentiate the value added tax according to centrality for goods and services that are used to build houses. – The government would rather focus on other measures to contribute to housing construction and activity throughout Norway, says Vangen.
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Want cheaper VAT so that more people will build houses in the village – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
