Housing Skills pilot project provides hands-on advice on housing problems
2 May 2017
SATO Corporation, Press Release, 2nd May 2017 at 2:45 pm
A pilot project tackling the challenges of urbanisation, everyday housing skills, and multiculturalism is offering support to housing investment company SATO's residents, ranging from how to enter into an electricity contract to how to clean their home. The joint project of SATO and Indcare, a company owned by EJY (Espoo Association of Organisations), aims to find new models for housing support.
- Both the native Finns as well as those with immigrant background are faced by the challenges of everyday living, says SATO's Housing Adviser Essi Helander. - The challenges often sound quite simple: How do I clean the floors without causing water damage, what to do with the rubbish when the bin is full or how do I enter into an electricity contract, Helander continues. - Many players do not, however, have the resources to provide such hands-on assistance for their residents.
The Housing Skills pilot project was launched by SATO and Indcare in April, and around 20 SATO buildings in Espoo and Helsinki have been selected for the pilot phase. Residents of these buildings are offered highly hands-on guidance and instruction in housing-related matters. With Indcare the pilot project has the number of employees needed to be able to offer residents enough concrete help. Three Indcare employees are committed to the project, and one of them has competency in somali language.
- Through EJY we have the right kind of competence to detect societal shortcomings and a genuine will to take action for better everyday life. With SATO we want to find the solutions that work the best to provide those in need of assistance exactly the kind of assistance they need and respond rapidly in this, says Jussi Sorsimo from Indcare.
**High demand for housing advice - new team members to be recruited this year **
Essi Helander helps residents regularly with challenges and problems related to housing through the SATO housing advice service. Issues covered vary from sorting out relationships between neighbours, difficulties in apartment care and maintenance to problems relating to rent payments. At times the underlying issue is much bigger as the housing adviser often encounters broader societal challenges such as social exclusion and substance abuse problems in her work.
- Our housing advice service helps respond to phenomena brought about by urbanisation as people live more and more densely and in more and more diverse and multicultural neighbourhoods these days. Not every contact she receives is about a conflict situation, however. - I also get calls from residents who are genuinely concerned about their neighbours, such as elderly people who appear to be lonely, Helander says.
The Housing Skills pilot ends at the end of June. The aim is for the project to generate improved models for housing support. Another aim is to increase the SATO housing advice team this year by recruiting several new people.
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For more information please contact:
SATO Corporation
Essi Helander, Housing Adviser, essi.helander@sato.fi, p. +358 20 134 4100 and +358 44 558 9007
Juha-Pekka Järvenpää, Director, juha-pekka.jarvenpaa@sato.fi, p. +358 201 34 4062 and +358 40 513 8484
Indcare Oy
Jussi Sorsimo, jussi.sorsimo@ejy.fi, p. +358 400 561040
SATO is one of Finland's leading lessors of rental apartments. SATO aims to offer full options for rental housing and an excellent customer experience. At the end of 2016, SATO owned a total of 25,300 rental apartments in Finland's largest growth centres and in St. Petersburg.
We contribute to sustainable development and initiative through our operations, and engage in open interaction with our stakeholders in order to produce added value. We operate over the long term and profitably. We increase the value of housing assets through investments and divestments and through our repair activities.
SATO Group's net sales in 2016 stood at EUR 263.0 million* in accordance with the new reporting practices, its operating profit stood at EUR 267.2 million and its profit before taxes was EUR 219.4 million. The value of SATO's investment assets is EUR 3.4 billion.
*Net sales have been changed in accordance with the new reporting practices.