lapland
‘People do have a romance with Lapland – but Santa’s not just for Christmas.’ coLin BrUnT aBove The arTic
the apart-hotel concept. These come with an eight per cent rental guarantee and finance packages which require only €6,000 down. There’s a strong domestic market for the properties, but there’s also demand from wealthy Russians looking for a high quality ski destination. “There’s only a couple of agents in
the UK dealing with these markets,” Charlotte Jackson says. “I’ve not looked at other Scandinavian markets, I’ve concentrated on Finland because there’s such a shortage of accommodation.” A touch of local colour comes
from the rental agreements for ski properties in Finland, where it’s not uncommon to find a note to the contract, “Price includes only one box of firewood during stay.”
%
15 10 5 0
-5
-10 -15 -20
Norway Finland
LaPLand Santa’s home!
Download the RICS European Housing Survey 20011 at http://
www.rics.org/ site/download_
feed.aspx?fileID =8883&fileExte nsion=PDF
Above the Arctic offers log cabins in Lapland, where there’s a good domestic ski market but increasing numbers of Brits are also visiting. Colin Brunt of Above the Arctic says, “People do have a romance with Lapland, especially at Christmas time, because it’s where Santa Claus lives. Brits in the last ten years have really discovered Lapland.” He says these log cabins have
nothing to do with the kind of ‘cabin’ you might find in a UK garden, or shiplap sheds; the building standards are exceptionally good, particularly where thermic efficiency is concerned. “Timber is a very good insulator and it has to be, because temperatures can go down to minus 30 degrees in this part of the world,” he explains. A two bed log cabin would cost
€175,000, and he would expect it to give a €10,000 rental income, equivalent to a 5.7 per cent yield.
House price growth in Europe, 2009 and 2010
These properties are targeted at investment buyers who want to have the property fully managed, and he says Above the Arctic is happy to arrange the management with one of a number of local agencies. So why did Colin get involved in
the Finnish market? One reason, he says, is that “Finland has got things really well organised from a tourist perspective”, in terms of both infrastructure and publicity; he knows the other Scandinavian countries, but they simply haven’t sold well to British tourists. But another reason is his personal
love of the area. He points out that although these properties make their rental return from the ski season, midsummer above the Arctic Circle is beautiful; the sun never sets on Midsummer Day, and there’s marvellous hiking and canoeing in an almost empty landscape. “The Far North is the most
beautiful place I’ve ever been,” he says, “and yet British tourists just don’t go there.” Something that might change,
perhaps, if a few of them read this article!
Price Performance in Scandinavia
2010 % +6.6 +5.4
Denmark +7.8 Sweden
+5.2
2011 % +4
n/a n/a +6
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PROPERTYdrum JUNE 2011 55
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