Popularity of glazed balconies continues to grow

COVID-19 has made our lives more home-centric, reveals the Sustainable Urban Environments Barometer.

A high majority of Finnish city dwellers* (67%) would prefer a flat with a glazed balcony even if it made the flat more expensive. Meanwhile, 21% of city dwellers would prefer a shared yard for the housing company and a cheaper flat over having their own balcony.

The popularity of glazed balconies has soared further during the year of COVID-19. Last year, the corresponding figures were 65% and 24%.

These results are from the Sustainable Urban Environments barometer, a survey of more than one thousand Finnish city dwellers commissioned by YIT and conducted by Prior Konsultointi in September 2020. The barometer survey was aimed at revealing the types of urban environments Finns would like to see developed. The participating city dwellers express their views on various themes, such as home, work and urban environment, transport and retail. The barometer was conducted for the third time. In part, the results are compared to those of the previous surveys.

 “I think the popularity of the glazed balcony is based on the fact that you can have furniture on it. In our projects, we’ve seen some really nicely decorated glazed balconies, which really add space to the home and extend its atmosphere to the outdoor space,” says Marko Oinas, Interim Executive Vice President, YIT.

Of the respondents (n=1003), roughly one in five (19%) has carried out or planned an upcoming renovation during the COVID-19 pandemic. 38% of respondents have rearranged their living space or redecorated their home to improve its functionality and atmosphere. Renovations have primarily been carried out or planned by house-dwellers, whereas families with children have improved the interior design of both their rented and owned flats.

The popularity of an own sauna has increased slightly compared to the previous year: this year, 52% of respondents* would prefer “a sauna in my flat even though it takes space”, whereas 37% of respondents selected the option “I would rather use the housing company’s shared sauna and allocate the space in my apartment for something else”. Last year, the corresponding figures were 49% and 38%, respectively.

According to the barometer, the COVID-19 pandemic has not increased the interest in either services that facilitate living or allotments or other forms of urban agriculture. Similarly, interest in shared facilities has been relatively low.

As a new question, the barometer asked respondents for their opinion on the accessibility of apartments. For 42% of respondents, accessibility is important for the functionality of the apartment, whereas 41% did not deem it as important. The responses were divided according to age: young people did not take inaccessibility into account. However, for one in two over the age of 50, inaccessibility is important.

*Respondents: people living in terraced houses and blocks of flats (n=875)

**Sustainable Urban Environments barometer 2020
The Sustainable Urban Environments barometer was conducted for the third time. The survey is targeted at the residents of eight cities: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä and Kuopio. The data was collected by an online panel administered by CINT Ab during September 23–28, 2020. There were 1,003 respondents. The sample is representative of the 18–75-year-old population of the participating cities in terms of the respondents’ age and gender as well as the size of each city.

For further information, please contact:
Marko Oinas, Interim Executive Vice President, Housing Finland and CEE segment, YIT Corporation, tel. +358 (0)40 506 7430, marko.oinas@yit.fi
Johanna Savolainen, Communications Manager, YIT Corporation, tel. +358 (0)44 305 4594, johanna.savolainen@yit.fi
 

YIT is the largest Finnish and a significant North European construction company and urban developer. We develop and build apartments and living services, business premises and entire areas. We are also specialised in demanding infrastructure construction. Together with our customers, our nearly 8,000 professionals are creating more functional, attractive and sustainable cities and living environments. We operate in 10 countries: Finland, Russia, Sweden, Norway, the Baltic countries, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. In 2019, our revenue was approximately EUR 3.4 billion. YIT Corporation's share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy. www.yitgroup.com