Each year, the County Administrative Board in Västerbotten conducts an analysis of the housing market in all the county's municipalities. This year many more municipalities have a balance than before, so there is a balance of supply and demand for housing in the municipality.
Thus, only four municipalities report a continued deficit of available housing in the market, which is four municipalities fewer than last year. This is also a clear difference compared to 2016, when only 1 in 15 municipalities in Västerbotten was in balance.
Large differences between municipalities - despite balance
The fact that there is balance in most of the inland municipalities does not necessarily mean that it has become easier to build inland.
Anton Brännvall is a social planner at the social development unit at the County Administrative Board. He thinks that even though the municipalities state that there is balance in the housing market, that does not mean that everyone has the opportunity to get housing.
- Just because there is "x" number of homes for "x" number of residents does not mean that housing is perfectly matched to what the residents want. It depends on where the homes that come out on the market are, what type of housing and in what price range.
He also says that it is much more difficult for private individuals, companies and municipalities to find financing for new housing in smaller municipalities.
- In several parts of the county it is not possible to solve a housing shortage or an imbalance in the housing stock by building new, because there is simply no profitability in it. The construction companies are not interested and the public utility does what they can, but it is quite difficult for them to take all the responsibility for solving an imbalance in the housing market.
He continues:
- We are a county with very different conditions, Umeå is tough and almost 90 percent of all apartments built since 2000 have been built in Umeå. So there are very different challenges in the municipalities.