Save historic factory rental apartments

Petition to Save Historic Factory Rental Apartmens and a Local Community

http://www.visitsouthpointfinland.fi/images/stories/fiskars%20view%20by%20the%20river%202.jpg

The Finnish city of Raseborg has decided to sell 105 apartments in historic factory buildings in the small communities of Fiskars and Billnäs. The apartments are currently owned by a city owned corporation (Kiinteisty Oy Ruukkiasunnot) and rented out to residents of the area.

These historic homes are a central reason for the viability of the local communities. The old 18th century ironworks and old brick factory buildings give the area a unique and charming character and over the years residents appreciating this setting have moved into the community. Small businesses housed in the old factory buildings have also been allowed to house their employees in the area. The historic factory buildings have thus over the years become hubs for a vital and rich local community where artists and craftsmen mix with a rich variety of other professions.

Raseborg city has now decided to sell all 105 factory apartments to one buyer. The city has openly admitted that this will be the end of municipal rental housing in the area. A large number of families with small children and other residents will lose their homes and would have to relocate from their home communities. In addition the Fiskars school would be in danger of getting closed down and the threshold for moving into these communities in the future would be drastically raised.

The sale of the old factory buildings has been blocked by a decades old loan agreement between the city of Raseborg and the state for the purpose of renovating the historic buildings. The loans have special terms (similar to ARAVA terms in Finland) attached to them preventing any traditional sale of the properties: the terms only allow for a transfer of the properties to an entity which is to the benefit of the public. The current owner of the properties, Kiinteistö Oy Ruukkiasunnot, has at the request of the city asked the relevant state department (ARA, Asumisen rahoitus- ja kehittämiskeskus, translates roughly to The Center for Funding and Development of Housing) to dismantle these terms.

We, the signers of this petition, ask that the historic rental apartments owned by Kiinteistö Oy Ruukkiasunnot will continue to stay in the ownership of the city, or that they are sold to an entity who will undertake to continue the current rental activity to the benefit of the public and the vital communities in the area.

This petition will be submitted to ARA (the relevant state department) and to the Raseborg city in November 2011.

We have over 1000 signatures so far on the combined petition.

Sign now! Your signature counts!

THIS PETITION CLOSES NOVEMBER 1st!

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(please note that the specific building in the image above is not affected by the sale. It is however in the area and the image is indicative of the character of the community and the buildings in question)

Separate petitions for the same cause in Finnish and Swedish can be found at the following links:

Finnish: http://www.adressit.com/fiskarsin_ja_billnasin_ruukkien_vuokra-asumisen_puolesta

Swedish: http://www.skrivunder.com/signatures/for_fortsatt_hyresboende_i_billnas_och_fiskars/