New rental home brand takes action to prevent loneliness

PRESS RELEASE 20.9.2021

Asuntoyhtymä homes are now called Joo homes. As one in three residents have experienced loneliness, the re-branded rental homes company, Joo Kodit, aims to breathe new life into communities ¬– for example by enabling shared sports activities. Joo Kodit currently comprise 3200 rental apartments in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area as well as in Turku, the Tampere region, Oulu, and Vaasa. More than a thousand new homes are under construction.

Say hello to Joo Kodit! All Asuntoyhtymä properties are now rented out under the new consumer brand Joo Kodit. Joo Kodit continues what Asuntoyhtymä started: all its apartments are new or nearly new, made for carefree living and different life stages. No deposit is required and pets are welcome.

Joo. Carefree rental living that brightens up communities

Environmental sustainability is a given for Joo Kodit. In addition to that, however, Joo Kodit takes pride in its residents’ well-being and in social responsibility. 74% of Joo Kodit residents live alone. While there’s a clear need for apartments for singles, people are also eager to get to know their neighbours and share leisure activities with them.

“We want to develop services around rental living and already consider how living alone might look like ten years from now. Living alone can mean lonely living, and that’s a problem we want to help solve,” says Asuntoyhtymä’s Commercial Director Heta Kärki.

According to a customer survey*, 31% of the residents of Joo Kodit experience at least some degree of loneliness – same as the comparison group living in another provider’s rental housing. Typically, the residents of Joo Kodit are facing a new phase in their life. This could be anything from moving to an unfamiliar area to getting divorced, or starting new studies.

What’s more, 59 % of Joo Kodit residents are open to the idea of getting to know their neighbours better and spending time with them. As they are more interested than average in sports and exercise, Joo Kodit wants to offer them regular opportunities to do sports together. Residents of the new development Manhattan in Kirkkonummi, for example, can enjoy communal exercise shifts at the new sports centre Joo.Arena sponsored by Joo Kodit.

Joo Kodit is also exploring other ways to make living more communal. The concept of a common room for residents is under development, and the first such shared space will open in a new property in Masala, Kirkkonummi, this autumn. In Oulu, Joo Kodit is planning a Joo Café as part of an apartment block to let residents interact and make friends with each other.

For more information about Joo Kodit, please contact:

Commercial Director Heta Kärki 050 566 2798 heta.karki@asuntoyhtyma.fi

Read more: joo-kodit.fi/en

The survey was conducted by Innolink as a combination of an electronic questionnaire and a consumer panel in March 2021. The target group for the customer survey comprised the current residents of Asuntoyhtymä’s apartments and the potential market, meaning 16–65-year-old Finnish consumers living in rented accommodation. The survey results are based on 1629 responses, 628 to the customer survey and 1001 to the overall market survey.

At Asuntoyhtymä, we develop, rent out and manage properties in Finland’s growth centres, such as the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Tampere region, Turku, and Oulu. As a responsible, long-term owner, we want to promote new ways of sustainable living and housing. Looking after our apartments, residents and the environment is at the heart of everything we do. The mission of Joo Kodit is to enable carefree rental living. Joo means yes in Finnish– yes to life’s opportunities, adventures and dreams.