The city council has promised 3,000 new homes in Oslo this year. According to the city council, an important tool is to soften the so-called apartment standard. The norm states how many apartments can be built in different sizes in each individual housing project. – More apartments will probably be built, says Oslo Urban Development Council, James Stove Lorentzen (H). Jump start He jump start the introduction even though a new norm has not been adopted by the city council. – It can take six to nine months. In the meantime, I would like to base the new proposal on the processing of individual cases. – There will probably be more small apartments and slightly fewer larger apartments. It suits the demand in Oslo, he says. MORE APARTMENTS: James Stove Lorentzen hopes the new apartment standard can speed up housing construction and the offer will be better adapted to demand. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Both the Labor Party, SV, MDG and Rødt protested vehemently when the matter was discussed in the urban development committee on Wednesday, but to no avail. More on that later. 5-10 per cent more Obos estimates that the new rules will provide 5-10 per cent more housing compared to the old ones. – With many single households, there is a great need for smaller apartments, says communications director Thomas Skjennald. More families with children An apartment standard was first introduced in 2007. It was supposed to prevent an accumulation of many small apartments in certain districts. The aim was to facilitate more families with children and more varied living environments, also in central parts of the city. Today’s norm was adopted in 2013. It applies in four city-centre districts: Gamle Oslo, Sagene, Grünerløkka and St. Hanshaugen. The rules are nevertheless also practiced elsewhere in the city: Max 35% apartments between 35 and 50 square meters At least 30% of the apartments must be larger than 80 square meters This means that no apartments must be smaller than 35 square meters. 3,000 HOMES A YEAR: More small homes will provide more homes overall, the city council believes. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB Rift over small apartments While the apartment norm has worked, housing prices in Oslo have only skyrocketed. Small crawl spaces near the center are particularly hotly contested. Developers and the political right have long wanted to build more small apartments. They believe it will provide more homes overall and apartments more people can afford. The city council already announced in the Hammersborg declaration how they will soften the norm: Up to 40% apartments between 30 and 50 square meters At least 30% of the apartments must be larger than 80 square meters The minimum size will thus be reduced from 35 to 30 square meters. Several places without the norm But: Even if the change is not dramatic, there is one more significant difference. The norm is to be practiced in fewer places today. The city council makes it clear that the norm is not to be used outside the four city-centre districts. And in these four districts, the rules shall only apply in selected districts: District St. Hanshaugen: Hammersborg District Sagene: Bjølsen, Sagene, Torshov, Iladalen District Grünerløkka, Grünerløkka west, Grünerløkka east, Dælenenga, Rodeløkka, Sinsen, Sofienberg District Old Oslo: Grønland , Enerhaugen, Nedre Tøyen, Kampen, Vålerenga No minimum size Outside these places there is no norm and no minimum size. This means that, in theory, an unlimited number of apartments under 30 square meters can be built. Do we then risk getting lots of apartments down to 15-20 square metres? – No, we don’t, says James Stove Lorentzen. – Developers can propose it, but the Planning and Building Agency will probably say no, and the city council will vote it down, he says. Obos also does not believe in a flood of mini-apartments. – It is important to us that there should still be good housing. A lower limit will probably be somewhere between 25 and 30 square metres, Thomas Skjennald believes. – Behind the back of the city council The parties on the left are against touching the apartment standard. Many small apartments mean more drafts and poorer living environments, they believe. But according to SV’s Omar Samy Gamal, the worst thing is that the city council scraps a norm the city council has adopted without the city council having adopted a new one. UNDEMOCRATIC: Omar Samy Gamal (SV) believes the city council violates democratic principles. Photo: Hanna Johre / news – We have a city council that ignores democratic principles and goes behind the city council’s back, he says. – He breaks the principles that the citizens must be heard, that the districts must be heard, and that we have proper political debates. Now Gamal and SV, together with Rødt, demand that it be investigated whether the city council’s procedure is legal. James Stove Lorentzen defends the false start by saying that the norm is indicative. – We are free and have always been free to deviate from the norm and propose something different. And it is up to the city council in each individual case whether they agree with the proposal or not, he says. Student housing is exempt from the apartment standard. Published 13.06.2024, at 10.13
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Softens the apartment norm – more small apartments in Oslo – Greater Oslo
