In the past year, many people have felt a little extra from the increased prices, but now the cabin manufacturers are also beginning to realize that people are less able to afford it. Saltdalshytta has 270 employees and built 550 cabins in 2021. So far this year, sales have halved compared to last year. – That is significantly below the level before the pandemic, says managing director Stine Røsand in Saltdalshytta. And with declining sales, there will be less to do for the employees at Saltdalshytta’s factory in Rusånes. That means layoffs. – It is very serious when we drop 50 per cent in the cottage market. It is with a heavy heart that we now begin the process of downsizing man-years at Rusånes Fabrikker, which is the factory where we produce all our cabins. There may be less activity inside the premises of the Saltdalshytta factory. Due to the failure of the market, it is heading towards redundancies. Photo: Kåre Riibe Ramskjell / news One of those who has been with the factory the longest is production manager Raymond Ruså. During 42 years in the cornerstone company, he has seen both ups and downs, but never anything like they are seeing now. – I guess I have never before experienced so many arrows pointing down. You have electricity prices, interest rates and a lot of uncertainty elsewhere in the world, he says. He believes this is much of the reason why 2023 is not likely to be a record year for new cabins. – How is the atmosphere among the employees now? – The atmosphere is good, but we are faced with downsizing, so people are obviously worried about whether they will be affected. Ruså is nevertheless an optimist: – We now see that we have a decline on the cottage side, so it is an investment area for housing. We think it might be a good foot to stand on now. Have interest rate jumps, electricity and expensive goods affected the cottage dream? Yes No Uncertain Show result Did you press Yes? You are far from alone. Across the country, the latest figures from Statistics Norway show that a cottage is not at the top of the list of what people can afford this year. Serious situation Røsand says they will now look at other types of products, for example multi-family housing, which can be produced at the factory so that they can get people back to work as quickly as possible. – The cottage market has been very good in recent years. Everyone expected a decline in the leisure market and that it would stabilize at the level before the pandemic. What we are seeing now is a very serious situation in the cottage market. We are sorry that this has consequences for our employees. There is a serious situation in the cottage market. It is very unfortunate that we now have to lay off several employees at Rusåne’s factories. – It is with a heavy heart that we now begin the process of reducing man-years at Rusånes Fabrikker, which is the factory where we produce all our cabins, – The peak in the cabin market has clearly passed Bjørn-Erik Øye in the Prognosesenteret has followed the Norwegian cabin market closely in a number of years. He says that there is no danger of a collapse in the cottage market, even if the figures show sharp falls. – We are back at the same level as we were before the pandemic. The peak in the cottage market has clearly been passed for this time, and we are not going back there in the coming years. Sales plummet, but construction activity remains high for a few more months, says Øye. Bjørn-Erik Øye in the Forecast Center has followed the Norwegian cottage market closely for a number of years. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news Øye believes that an increasing number of projects are being put on hold, which means significantly weaker construction activity in the future. He is excited about the analysis the Forecast Center will complete at the end of September, which will show how many people are now planning to buy cabins in the future and how many have sat on the fence. Jørgen Hellestveit, who is the head of Finn Eiendom, also says that the interest in mountain cabin advertisements has dropped quite sharply after the summer, compared to the previous year. – Traffic is 40 per cent less compared to the same period last year, he says to Dagens Næringsliv.
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Saltdalshytta and other manufacturers of cabins are struggling with the economy and changes – news Nordland
