It is getting towards evening at the home of the family with two children in Kvenvik in Alta. But they don’t really want to live here. They want to move to Kvænangen in Nord-Troms. Looking for a home is anything but easy. – We have been looking for four years, ever since the children were born. We want a house with some property and a barn, says Lene Røsberg. There is no shortage of empty houses in the municipality of 1,200 inhabitants. But they are not for sale. – Not many people want to sell. We will be kept waiting. Lene Røsberg and Gøran Olaussen live in Alta, but have been looking for a place to live in Nord-Troms for four years. Photo: Johan Isak Niska / news Almost no construction in the districts She struggles to understand that it must be so difficult for a young family with children to find a place to live in a district municipality in the north. – We want the children to grow up in a slightly smaller space. If we only wanted a house, we could live here. But we enjoy living in a place where we can frolic and do things in our spare time around the house, and create a life there, she says. news has mapped that there are 6,477 landlords on Airbnb in the whole of Northern Norway. Several politicians say that it contributes to the fact that people who want to live in the districts struggle to find housing. We have also asked all the municipalities in Troms if new housing estates are being built. Residential buildings in Troms first half of 2024: 0 in Kvænangen 0 in Skjervøy 0 in Kåfjord 0 in Balsfjord 0 in Sørreisa 0 in Kvæfjord 0 in Gratangen 0 in Lavangen 1 in Tjeldsund 1 in Salangen 1 in Dyrøy 1 in Bardu 2 in Ibestad 3 in Nordreisa 3 in Lyngen 6 in Storfjord 10 in Harstad 19 in Karlsøy 22 in Senja 137 in Tromsø Målselv municipality has not responded to news’s inquiry. The answers show that there is almost no construction in the district. In eight out of 22 municipalities, not a single project has been started. Four municipalities can report the start of construction for a housing estate, while the construction of two to three housing estates has started in three municipalities. We have asked several district mayors if they experience a housing shortage: Simen Wingstad / news Lyngen mayor Eirik Larsen Yes, there is a big housing shortage. Employees have chosen to move due to lack of housing. The problem of acquiring housing applies to the entire municipality. news Karlsøy mayor Mona BenjaminsenYes, there is a housing shortage. I don’t have an overview of how many people have applied for municipal housing, and who are possibly waiting in line. But I still know that there are many people who do not fall under the priority category for municipal housing who are looking for a flat/house. Pål Hansen / news Senja mayor Geir-Inge SivertsenYES! There is a housing shortage in Senja municipality, both in the central area and out in the rural areas where business activity is growing and there is a demand for labour. An analysis Senja municipality did in 2022 showed a need for 300–400 new housing units until 2025. Although some have been built since 2022, this need is still representative until 2030. news Målselv mayor Martin Nymo The housing shortage is approaching. With so many refugees that we have taken in, and in addition the need for new homes for defense personnel, people are struggling to find homes. Erik Hind Sveen Skjervøy mayor Ørjan AlbrigtsenYes. In the small town of Skjervøy, there is a lot of competition for the few homes that are laid out, while in the district young people who want to live in the countryside struggle in competition with those who want holiday homes. Eirik Hind Sveen Lavangen mayor Hege Myrseth RollmoenYes, at times there is a housing shortage. In the worst case, the consequence may be that it becomes difficult to recruit employees. This is the case where people who move in are unable to get their own home. Troms county is not alone in experiencing a decline in construction activity: The total decline from the first quarter of last year to the same time this year is on a national basis of 2 per cent. In Troms, it is as much as 65 per cent. This is shown by figures from the Norwegian Housing Manufacturers’ Association. – Housing has become a bottleneck. Kvænangen is one of the municipalities experiencing building collapse. Mayor Kai Petter Johansen (SV) thinks it is wrong that young people who want to move to the municipality cannot find housing. – It hampers development in our societies when we constantly experience that we lack hands in schools, kindergartens, health and other socially critical tasks that we have to solve. It affects all parts of society when we are unable to get people settled. Mayor of Kvænangen, Kai Petter Johansen. Photo: Pål Hansen / news He says that half of the houses in Nord-Troms municipality are used as leisure houses. It was when the municipality was to accept refugees from the war in Ukraine that they discovered how great the housing shortage is. Although the neighboring municipality of Nordreisa has several new buildings under way, Mayor Hilde Nyvoll (Ap) also describes a situation with a housing shortage. – The housing challenges in the district have become a bottleneck, she says. This is currently a rare sight in Troms. Photo: Pål Hansen / news Wants to take greater risks Both municipalities use local remedies to get new residents. Kvænangen has, among other things, free house plots in several places. Nordreisa builds care homes for the elderly. They have both free nursery school and other benefits through the initiative zone for Nord-Troms and Finnmark. But it is of little help without housing. – What would you like if you discussed the housing shortage with the finance minister? – That arrangements must be put in place that provide support for those who build rental housing for people who want to settle in the districts, says Nyvoll. Mayor of Nordreisa, Hilde Nyvoll. Photo: Hans L. Andreassen/news – We would ask him to cancel the funds and the schemes we have through the Housing Bank. They must enable the municipalities to provide good conditions for construction. The municipalities themselves should be able to take a greater part of the burden and risk of housing development, says Johansen. The reason is simple: – It costs the same to build in Kvænangen as in Tromsø. But when you are going to sell, the home has likely fallen in value, while it increases in the cities. Vedum wants to spend more money in the districts Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) says that nationally there has been little housing construction in recent years. That is why he agrees with the mayors in Nord-Troms. He says that the government is looking at some of the measures they are asking for. – We are looking both at subsidies for more construction, and we have made adjustments to the rules for the Housing Bank. We now have the rules for private banks out for consultation. We are asking for input from all local communities on how the rules should be in the future for housing loans, he says. Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum. Photo: Torkil Stoltz / news When he hears about the couple in Alta who cannot find housing in Kvænangen, he says that the government is working actively with housing policy. – The state will have more tools for housing construction in the districts in the coming years. We will use more resources on housing in the budget for 2025. At the same time, he reminds us that high interest rates and expensive times can have an impact on whether people dare to build right now. – Norway is diverse, and we need housing construction throughout the country. We must manage to get housing construction up in the smaller towns as well, he says. Dreams of a small farm Back in Alta, continue the family’s dream of the small farm they will create their lives in. Lene Røsberg and her family dream of a small farm. Photo: Johan Isak Niska / news – City is nice. But in Kvænangen we have mountains and water. You can go fishing, use nature and much more. I think many people want a larger property that they can use and live with more than just living in, she says. – We don’t give up. But if we don’t find anything, we have to start looking elsewhere, says Røsberg. Hello! Hello! If you have any thoughts or input on what you have read, please send me an e-mail. If you have or know someone who is experiencing a housing shortage in the district, please let us know about them. Published 04/09/2024, at 06.28
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Young people struggle to establish themselves in the districts – news Troms and Finnmark
