Developing affordable housing in your city: insights from Fingal County Council and Helsinki's exchange

Fingal County Council commitment to achieving sustainable communities

Fingal County Council (FCC) is deeply committed to building thriving, sustainable communities across its municipal areas. The Council has developed a comprehensive strategy aimed at fostering sustainable communities both now and for the future. Alongside an ambitious housing development program, FCC places a strong emphasis on enhancing public spaces in towns and villages, considering their history, current function, and interaction with the environment.

However, being part of the greater Dublin Metropolitan Area , the Fingal County Council faces a housing shortage. Over the past five years, local authorities in Ireland have made significant efforts to increase housing supply. Despite these efforts, various challenges have slowed progress, making it difficult to provide affordable housing in Fingal County. How can cities address affordability and security for tenants and small homeowners, including protection from speculation and expulsion?

To answer this question, the council has joined a City-to-City exchange with the city of Helsinki to share knowledge and get solutions from peers. This exchange consisted of two visits, one in Finland, one in Ireland.

Helsinki: an innovative city in affordable housing initiatives

The city of Helsinki has a strong history in housing development, with the ability to shape both housing supply and affordability. The city aims to provide a diverse range of housing options for residents without relying solely on the market. It also emphasizes making new developments low-carbon and is actively retrofitting existing homes to improve energy efficiency.

To innovatively achieve its housing targets, the City Council established its own affordable housing production company Heka (Helsinki City Housing Co.) in 2010 which currently owns 54 000 rental apartments in Helsinki with rents that are 45% less than the average market rent. Heka's green transition policy includes providing heating to apartments from geothermal sources.

The aim of the outgoing visit to Helsinki was for Fingal County Council (FCC) to get a better understanding of the affordable housing policies and delivery mechanisms of Helsinki. The ingoing visit to FCC allowed the housing officials to get feedback based on their observations and comparisons with their own experiences.

Mutual benefits of the City-to-City Exchange

Through this exchange, both cities gained valuable insights into effective urban strategies by visiting and consulting with community groups, local politicians, housing experts, and academics. The collaboration produced several beneficial outcomes that have informed strategy design and policymaking for both Fingal County Council and Helsinki.

Senior officials from Fingal County Council had the opportunity to learn directly from their Helsinki counterparts, while Helsinki officials gained a deeper understanding of affordable housing provision in Fingal County's municipal areas. These visits also facilitated the creation of a network for future cooperation between the two authorities, with the potential for self-funded learning exchanges in the future.

The visits focused on specific themes and included practical examples, such as a case study on Helsinki's affordable long-term rental housing, providing Fingal County Council with practical expertise to apply locally. A few weeks after the second event, an online evaluation session was held, allowing participants to reflect on and articulate the lessons learned from these exchanges.

Ultimately, this City-to-City exchange offerred a valuable opportunity for cities to engage in European networks of cooperation and collaboration. By participating in this exchange, Fingal County Council and Helsinki joined a broader community of European cities dedicated to sustainable urban development.

Enhancing cities' capacities with City-to-City Exchanges

The Fingal County Council-Helsinki exchange highlights the significant value of City-to-City Exchanges as a powerful tool for urban areas to learn from one another and enhance their capacities. These exchanges offer short-term, focused opportunities for cities to collaborate directly and intensively.

This successful partnership encourages all cities facing urban development challenges, particularly in housing, to take advantage of the EUI City-to-City Exchange mechanism. By participating, cities can enrich their own urban strategies through shared knowledge and collaboration with fellow EU cities.

Applications for City-to-City Exchanges are open to local authorities of all sizes from EU Member States who are interested in sustainable urban development. This inclusive approach ensures a rich diversity of perspectives and experiences, fostering a dynamic learning environment for all participants.