The article analyses how housing affordability is defined in Finnish
housing policy. The data consists of laws, policy documents and expert
interviews. Three theoretical approaches are identified: normative
definitions, consumer choice and definition by housing tenure. Normative
definitions that consider affordability as an intersection of household
income, housing costs and housing standards are acknowledged, but not
treated as policy objectives. Nevertheless, housing allowances are a
practical implementation of this approach. The main aim of housing
policy – increasing housing supply to support a balanced market –
implies that the housing question is to be solved primarily by the
market and, consequently, affordability is defined by consumer choice.
Social rental housing is often explicitly referred to as “affordable”.
However, limiting the question to one tenure is problematic. The article
recommends adopting a normative definition as well as better
coordination of housing policy, which is now divided between different
ministries.