Net rental income grew, investments continued

VVO Group’s turnover and profit performance as well as the development of net rental income remained good during the review period. We are continuing to make investments and are increasing the number of apartments we can offer in Finland’s growth centres.

When making investments, we pay close attention to the location of rental apartments, services and transport connections. Good examples of this include the transactions in the second quarter in which we bought premises on the Saariniemenkatu and Lönnrotinkatu streets in Helsinki. We currently have 40,674 rental apartments, and a total of 1,385 privately financed Lumo apartments were under construction at the end of the period.

Our goal is to start the construction of a minimum of 1,000 new apartments each year and to increase the number of apartments by acquiring old housing stock, too. During the review period, the Group invested EUR 115.0 million in new development, in acquiring old housing stock and in renovation.

In the spring and early summer, we commented on the strategic Government Programme. The Government Programme contains a lot of good and long-awaited measures that improve the preconditions for building rental apartments. Ideas that we consider good include the lightening of norms, the increasing of the number of available plots, the acceleration of the zoning process and the streamlining of the building permit process. Instead, we are concerned about the Government Programme items that increase the price of living, such as property and waste taxes and taxation of heating. The price of living is also increased by the high-interest ARAVA loans of the old ARA housing, granted by the state.

For a long time already, VVO Group has developed its electronic service offering in order to make services as easy-to-use and convenient as possible. The latest development gave residents around Finland the opportunity to book and rent parking spaces easily in a new online service. We will invest in electronic services in the future, too.

Have a nice autumn!

Jani Nieminen
CEO