The influence of tenure status on housing satisfaction and indoor environmental quality in Finnish apartment buildings

Abstract

Based on a previous nationwide housing and health questionnaire survey, we observed significant differences in many housing quality attributes by dwelling types and tenure status. Respondents living in apartment buildings and rental houses reported being less satisfied with their housing conditions than respondents living in owner-occupied apartments or houses in Finland. In this subsequent work, we aim to study the associations between tenure status and housing satisfaction among respondents living in apartment buildings (N = 397). Further, we used measurement data collected from 28 apartments in six buildings to determine if the differences in housing satisfaction could be related to objectively measured indoor environmental quality indicators: indoor temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide concentrations. Based on the results, the respondents from rental flats were significantly more unlikely to be satisfied with their dwelling, and to report their dwellings to be suitably warm in winter than the respondents from owner-occupied flats. Based on the measurement data, small differences were observed in thermal conditions by tenure status; however, a large portion of all apartments appeared to be overheated, and only one apartment experienced room temperatures below 18 °C during winter. In conclusion, there were large differences between occupant self-reported satisfaction and thermal comfort by tenure status, but differences in measured parameters were relatively small. The results indicate that occupant characteristics are likely to explain a majority of differences by tenure status, which should be taken into account when assessing the overall relationships between housing and health.