On the site of Statnett’s old head office, Husebyplatået AS will build 550 homes. The 50-acre plot is located close to the metro station at Montebello, on the western edge of Oslo. The question now is how many homes will actually be built. Because on the part of the site that is most attractive to build on, the municipality now wants to build a school. The proposal has several agencies in the municipality worked with for a long time, without saying anything to the landowner. The old high-voltage lines on Statnett’s former site at Montebello metro station will be removed. Photo: Johan B. Sættem – The fact that they are now removing over 200 homes, and removing 40 percent of the homes in our project, through a proposal that comes at the very last minute, we actually think is quite unheard of. Also because we know that many of the city’s agencies have worked with this without involving us, says Tom Bratlie, CEO of Husebyplatået AS. Takes longer to make plots ready for construction in several Norwegian municipalities Norwegian municipalities have a monopoly on making plots ready for construction. Before housing can be built on a plot, it must be regulated for residential purposes. Municipalities where case processing time has increased significantly in the last year: Oslo: Increases from 1799 in 2020 to 2044 days. This is an increase of 245 days during 2021. Fredrikstad: Increases by 932 days this past year, and has the country’s longest case processing time, of 2411 days. Arendal has tripled the case processing time from 344 to 1000 days. Asker: Has doubled the treatment time, from 588 to 1270 days. Narvik: Has increased the case processing time from 508 to 1169 days. Municipalities that have significantly reduced case processing time in the last year: Moss: Reduced by 329 days during 2021 to 529 days. Tøndberg: Reduced case processing time by 292 days to 727 days. Sandefjord: Has reduced the case processing time by 202 days to 816 days. Tromsø: Has halved the case processing time from 1319 days in 2020 to 665 in 2021. Source: Statistics Norway / Kostra / NBBL. Average case processing time for private proposals for detailed regulations – days from start-up meeting to final decision. The proposal from the municipality came to a head, after many years of regulatory process. Bratli fears that it may take another 4-5 years before the shovel can be stuck in the ground – and is upset about what he perceives as secrecy and unwillingness to dialogue on the part of the municipality. – It has now taken five years since the regulation process started, and eight years since we started working on the project, he says. – Complicated area The building plans have met with large protests from welfare associations in the neighborhood, which have wanted a different building with fewer floors than what is planned by the owner. Margrethe Geelmuyden (V), who is deputy chair of the committee for culture and upbringing in the Ullern district, says the district is the one in Oslo with the worst coverage of school places in the upper secondary school. – The need for more schools is urgent. At the same time, intense densification and the establishment of new urban areas are underway. The Statnett site is an obvious place to secure a school site, she says. Right by the subway, the landowner has planned to build 200 homes. The plans conflict with the municipality’s desire to build a school on the same part of the site. Photo: Illustration: White architects Hanna Marcussen (MDG), who is city councilor for urban development in Oslo municipality, says that the development on the old Statnett site is demanding and complicated. – I understand that they experience that the dialogue with the municipality regarding this school site has not been completely optimal, and I have also had a meeting with them. Then there is also a complicated area because there have been a lot of neighbor protests here, which has made the case extra demanding. – It is quite clear that Oslo can always learn from other municipalities. At the same time, little is being built on virgin land, and there are many things that make the processes more complicated in Oslo than in other municipalities, she says. Photo: Johan B. Sættem – Will there be a school on this site? – It has not yet been decided. It is a decision that we only make when we get the case for political consideration at City Hall. There are not many relevant plots for school in that area, but whether it will be this or another, we have not considered politically, Marcussen says. Takes increasingly longer to make plots ready for construction New figures from Statistics Norway’s municipality state reporting show that the case processing time in Oslo to make plots ready for construction increased by 8 months during 2021. In 2021, the case processing time was 2044 days from start-up meeting to final decision on private proposals for detailed regulations. But the capital is not alone. Fredrikstad, Arendal and Narvik are other urban municipalities where case processing time has increased sharply. As is well known, a case has at least two sides. And with the municipality’s glasses, the most important reason why case processing time has increased in Oslo lies with the developers, says the city councilor. – A good part of the increase is the industry itself. If we are to reduce the total case processing time, both the municipality and the industry must work in a different way, she says. – Unacceptable Norwegian housing association national association and CEO Bård Folke Fredriksen, has provided the figures for news. He believes that Oslo and other urban municipalities that spend a very long time regulating plots must do more to learn what other municipalities are doing, in order to reduce the use of time. Long case processing time makes it more expensive to build and more expensive to enter the housing market, says Bård Folke Fredriksen, CEO of the Norwegian Housing Association. Photo: Johan B. Sættem The current situation leads to house prices rising unnecessarily much, he believes. – It is completely unacceptable how the case processing time goes up. It makes housing construction unnecessarily more expensive, and gives fewer homes for sale, which also contributes to prices rising, he says. “Housing Lab – National Center for Housing Market Research” has previously told news that the lack of housing is the main explanation for the fact that prices in the capital area have risen more than elsewhere. – The case processing time in Oslo has increased by 200 days in just two years, from four to six years. But also municipalities such as Fredrikstad, Kristiansund, Asker and Arendal, the case processing time is going in the very wrong direction, he says. At the same time as case processing time has increased in many municipalities, it has been significantly reduced in cities such as Moss, Tønsberg, Sandefjord and Tromsø.
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– Quite unheard of – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
