New housing services and solutions

VVO Group’s operations focus on offering good rental housing and developing innovative housing services.

The Group’s latest service innovation, the Lumo kotinyt.fi site launched on 12 October 2015, is another step in the development of the Lumo service concept. The online apartment rental service is revolutionising the rental housing sector: the decision-making power and the freedom of choice are handed over to the customers – they can rent the apartment they want immediately. The customer chooses a suitable Lumo rental apartment, pays the rent for the first month and can move in the apartment marketed in the online service on the next weekday, for instance, without a rental deposit. In addition, the service comes with a satisfaction guarantee. The first days already showed that the new apartment rental service is a great success among new customers.

On the basis of extensive survey data*, Finns appreciate ease, speed and good service in rental housing. The ease of finding an apartment is important for consumers also according to the “Pääkaupunkiseudun vuokranantajat ja vuokravälittäjät 2015” survey, conducted by Taloustutkimus and assessing landlords and rental housing agencies in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The respondents rated the VVO Group the best-known landlord and in reputation assessment, the Group improved its position to number one.

In addition to the above, another distinguishable phenomenon is the intense increase in experience seeking and digitalisation in the operating environment. These megatrends are also influencing housing markets and set requirements for operating as a landlord.

VVO Group is continuously developing its electronic service offering in order to make services as convenient as possible. Currently, more than 70 per cent of tenancy agreements are signed electronically. The latest development gave residents around Finland the opportunity to book and rent parking spaces easily in a new online service.

VVO Group tenants may also use online services to check their rent payment history, update their contact details, use the home swap service, report any faults, contact the house manager, and give notice of termination.

In Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Jyväskylä, and, as the latest addition, Turku, car sharing was introduced in certain Lumo properties in cooperation with 24Rent. For residents, car sharing is approximately 30 per cent cheaper than an equivalent rental car. The car-share vehicles can be reserved by the residents and picked up from the building’s own designated car park. In addition, the car-share scheme allows us to reduce the number of parking places by 30–40 per cent per building.

The agreements signed with DNA and Elisa on faster broadband connections entered into force on 1 January 2015: a 10-megabit broadband connection that is included in the rent is now available in nearly all of VVO Group’s apartments.

*New tenant surveys, surveys of leaving tenants and the annual tenant satisfaction survey conducted by VVO Group among its customers.