Finnish government looking to raise rent prices and decrease competition
Starting 2009, all apartments that are sold or rented in Finland must have an "energy report" that is presented to potential buyers or tenants. The report in question is a piece of paper which, according to wise government officials, will allow people to compare the energy efficiency of different apartment buildings. For apartments that are sold this is a mildly understandable regulation, since an owner has some say in the affairs of the apartment building. But a tenant has no say in the energy efficiency of the building.
But the report itself isn't the problem, it's the costs associated with it. Already, anyone looking to rent an apartment has to pay for a house manager's report that lists various details about the building. This report costs anywhere between 50-80 €, depending on the company responsible for the building. Which isn't cheap, when one considers that the average rent for a one-room apartment in downtown Helsinki is around 700 € and only around 300 € everywhere else in Finland. The price of the energy report will be around 20 € (I'll repeat; that'll be 20 € for ONE piece of paper), which means that every time an apartment is rented, the owner has to cough up around 70-100 € (as the report is valid for only one year).
And if that wasn't bad enough, many of the companies that manage buildings are also involved in the rental business. Which means that the companies can get the reports for free as most companies put the income they earn from the reports into their own coffers. I'm not quite sure about the legality of this procedure, but since most building associations don't care, most management companies get away with it.
The increase in rents may not be huge, but it'll be there. And many large companies will gain market share at the expense of smaller competitors. And in all probability, potential tenants won't even glance at the energy report.