– Too few homes are being built. That is the main reason for the current housing situation in Oslo, says Lars Jacob Hiim, managing director of Boligproduktorene. Figures from the interest organization Boligproduktorene show that the number of new building projects in the capital has fallen by 11 per cent in the past year. At the same time, the city’s population is growing and it is becoming more difficult to buy and rent housing. The housing producers, which represent companies that build houses and apartments, blame the city council and say that Oslo has a “regulation crisis”. The city council has led Oslo into a “regulatory crisis”, says Lars Jacob Hiim in Boligprodustenere. Photo: Emily Louisa Millan Eide / news – The city council has a clear responsibility, they are the ones who make arrangements for new areas for housing construction, and decide through the Planning and Building Act. Too few areas are laid out, which means that too few homes are built, says Hiim. Hiim also believes that it takes too long when the municipality prepares new plots for construction. The average processing time for retail and area regulation in Oslo has more than doubled since 2017 and is today more than 5.5 years, according to Aftenposten. Low supply and high demand lead to stiff prices. In recent months, rental prices in Oslo in particular have risen sharply. This creates challenges for students and others who move to the city. – It is quite ridiculous. The prices have only risen for each and every apartment that is advertised, so you get a little lost and discouraged as time goes by, Andreas Linnebo (19) told news earlier this summer. City council rejects the criticism City Council for Urban Development in Oslo, Hanna Marcussen (MDG), does not agree that the city has a “regulatory crisis”. – In Oslo, we have a housing reserve of 12,000 fully regulated homes. In that respect, we have a large reserve, says Marcussen. City councilor for urban development in Oslo, Hanna Marcussen, believes that long processing times are not the only reason why fewer construction projects are started. Photo: Johan B. Sættem The city council does not believe that the processing time is the main reason why fewer construction projects are being started than in the past, in Oslo and elsewhere in the country. Rather, she believes that high material prices, a lack of labor and rising interest rates mean that builders are waiting to put the shovel in the ground. – These are things we as a municipality can do little about. It is therefore unconstructive to simply point to the municipality. At the same time, Marcussen agrees that it takes a long time to regulate new plots of land in Oslo. – It is true that the processing time in Oslo is too long. But very thorough work has been done by the Planning and Building Agency to find out why this is so. Then it was found that it is not only the municipality that takes a long time, but also the builders. Going forward, the city council hopes that the municipality and developers can work together better to ensure effective regulation processes. – When you look at the cases where the regulation time was not very long, you see that there is a good understanding of roles and that all parties are concerned about meeting the deadlines.
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Housing manufacturers blame the city council for high Oslo prices – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
