One of Finland’s leading rental housing providers, Sato is launching a solution lowering the threshold to buying a home in the market. Sato FlexHome is a new form of part ownership where you can enter home ownership with a small initial capital outlay and a five-year part-ownership period. The FlexHome pilot property will be completed in Helsinki’s Tali district at the beginning of June. 

The FlexHome is seen by Sato not only as a way of responding to consumer needs but also as a significant contribution towards the construction of diverse neighbourhoods. 

"Consumer demand for low-threshold home ownership is growing, which is indicated by studies including the PTT housing preferences survey conducted last year. Due to urbanisation, the increased prevalence of intermittent work and stricter housing loan criteria, fewer and fewer people are able to buy a place even though they’d like to enter home ownership," says Sato Executive Vice President for Investment Antti Aarnio.  

According to Aarnio, another major need for additional forms of housing arises from the urban development need to create diverse environments. 

"This type of ownership model provides the opportunity for diverse development of districts. Helsinki’s Tali district is a good example of this as it already features rental as well as owner-occupied homes and will now gain the added option of part-ownership housing," Aarnio adds.

As its name implies, Sato FlexHome is a concept developed to provide flexibility when life situations change. You only need a small initial capital outlay to access the home and then pay a part-ownership rent that is lower than the market rent, enabling you to make your possible loan repayments at the same time. The rental period – five years – is shorter than in traditional part-ownership models. After that you can decide whether or not to buy the apartment in full. Alternatively, you can sell the apartment back to Sato and still continue living in the apartment as a Sato tenant. 

"Increasing migration, uncertainties relating to employment and the economy as well as other factors are creating a need for a form of housing that’s flexible if necessary. Many people would like to buy a home but currently cannot or dare not take out a large home loan. A lot can also happen in your life over a period of five years, and that’s why it makes sense to have a consideration period like this," Aarnio points out.