Finnish Landlord Association’s government program related goals for 2019 to 2023
In the opinion of the association, the government should go forward with the following policies during the current term:
1. Development of the housing tax system
- Taxation of capital income should not be increased.
- Repair and maintenance of existing housing stock should be encouraged by allowing repair costs to be deducted from rental income the same year the costs were paid.
- All types of minor investment ventures should be encouraged with a tax exemption of 1,000 euros on all capital income.
- Transfer tax should be gradually retired.
- The deemed acquisition cost regarding capital gains tax on long-term investments should be reset to 50 percent.
2. Increasing the housing supply
- The Housing First model and various other models supporting social residency should be promoted through taxation and land use, housing and transport (MAL) agreements.
- Supporting traffic-related solutions and traffic investments should become more pronounced in state’s housing policy.
3. Making the subsidization system fair
- Any housing benefits should be given to those who genuinely need them by using income and asset limits.
- ARA apartments should implement a model where the rent is increased to approach market level as tenant’s income grows.
- Subsidization is mainly organized by one transparent demand-based subsidy.
Reducing taxation of capital income would increase housing supply.
According to a 2019 poll by the Finnish Landlord Association, 55% of respondents would consider acquiring new investment property if capital gains tax was reduced.
The tax has been increased for the past 20 years: under 30,000 euro income has a tax rate of 30%, and any income surpassing 30,000 euros is taxed at 34%.
13% of respondents would expand their operations if apartments were more readily available.
