Consumer housing choices among residents living in wooden multi-storey buildings

Figures & data

Table 1. Interview participants’ according to case study.

Interview	City, country	# of interviewees	Interviewee role	Building ownership	Length	Date
1	Tampere, FI	2	Residents	Owner-occupied	40 min	14.12.2021
2	Turku, FI	3	Residents	Owner-occupied	47 min	24.2.2022
3	Turku, FI	1	Residents	Owner-occupied	36 min	9.3.2022
4	Tampere, FI	1	Property manager	Right-of-occupancy	45 min	3.5.2022
5	Vantaa, FI	2	Property manager	Rental	45 min	10.5.2022
6	Tampere, FI	2	Residents	Rental	42 min	31.5.2022
7	Tampere, FI	1	Property manager	Rental	42 min	3.6.2022
8	Växjö, SV	1	Residents	Owner-occupied	46 min	20.4.2022
9	Växjö, SV	1	Residents	Owner-occupied	101 min	20.4.2022
10	Uppsala, SV	2	Residents	Owner-occupied	34 min	29.6.2022

Table 2. Categorization of the housing attributes of the residents.

Categories	Examples of housing attributes discussed in the data
Locational quality
Services (location-related, external to the building)	Local everyday public and private services: grocery store, schools, kindergartens, shopping centre Recreational spaces: restaurants, cafes, sports parks, dog parks, Sanitary service: waste management (e.g. regional pipe collection system, availability of trash cans) Health care services: pharmacy, medical centre, dentist Work and education: business centre, university
Accessibility to important areas	Mobility: public transportation (e.g. bus/tram), transport connections (incl. own car), parking spaces, nearby places of interest (e.g. by foot or bike) Social reachability: closeness to family, other cities (e.g. capital area/family/summer cottage)
Social factors	Ambiance in the neighbourhood: coziness, attractiveness, peaceful, relaxed Life-style characteristics: youthful area, ‘neutral area’, ‘housing heaven’, personal appreciation Social characteristics: community, diversity of residents, ‘enlightened residents’ Negative characteristics: traffic noise, unrest
Physical environments/milieu	Milieu: city centre, urban area, harbour, old industrial area, university campus Proximity to nature (e.g. nice park, lake-/river-/seaside, forests), outdoor trails) Feelings: newness, familiar area, developing area, ‘nice area’, density
Physical attributes
Services (connected to- or available- in the building)	Shared spaces: storage spaces, laundry room, bike storage, vehicle parking, sauna, communal spaces, guest apartment, common patio/yard, shared courtyard house, recycling room Building services: mail pick-up boxes, maintenance services, waste management, accessibility for reduced mobility, residents’ committee
Material of the building	Importance: Not a deciding factor, ‘wooden house is a nice thing’, ‘extra bonus’, ‘became a criteria’, nothing extraordinary, good choice Sustainable: ecological, renewable material, domestic material Positive attributes: allows alterations to own apartment, warmer feeling Negative experiences: house lives and sways, some cracks in corners, risk assessment, warranty repairs, wood is not visible
Durability of building	Quality: ‘seems high-quality materials’, long-lasting materials, quality of work, surface treatment for climatic stress, small problems on façade, trust that ‘someone else’ has taken care of durability issues Functionality, repairability Scepticism of wood material: life-cycle assessment is difficult in advance, safety issues (humidity problems, sound insulation, fire/waterproof), insulation, material choices out of economy
Energy use of building	Importance assessment: ‘no significance in decision making’, ‘have thought about it’, ‘inability to influence’, ‘looks good on paper’ Heating/electricity: comfort temperature control, green electricity/solar cells Energy efficiency: energy-smart, energy saving, good insulation, good level/standards in new houses, no compromises to be made
Ambiance of the building	Feelings: Newness, modern home, calmness, ‘detached house feeling’, positive energy, happiness, healthy Acoustics: sound insulation (quiet or disturbing), softness (acoustics), vibration Technical quality: cooling & ventilation, dry air, heating problems, ‘house lives’ Design features: spaciousness, ability to make changes to apartment, balconies (gives extra space, should have glass) Opportunities for community
Aesthetics of the building	Pleasant/design: Nice sight, brightness (large windows), architectural solutions, planner designed, decorative surfaces, nice green areas in courtyard Material choices: good finishes and material choices, visible wooden elements looks good, wood not visible, wooden stairs (nice and attractive), ugly façade materials, wood material changes with time. electrical appliances are visible (surface installation)
Apartment size/layout	Size: Suitable size, more/less space needed, number of rooms, family needs, two balconies, spacious balcony Layout: choice of low or high (floors), accessibility, flexibility to impact on layout, corner for remote work
Property value
Resell (asset) value	Apartments as an investment, area with potential for value/price increase, developing/emerging area Property maintenance (well-maintained, value can be preserved)
Maintenance cost (Usage costs during occupancy)	Cost level: quite high in new house, ‘positive surprise’, relatively small, not considered Maintenance needed (and cost): laborious maintenance (vinyl floors), ‘operating cost ideologies that could not be emphasized too much’, considered during the design of the building, wood material requires maintenance, painting, technology (e.g. sprinkler systems), balcony windows would keep façade in better condition, high waste management costs (pipe collection system) Energy: heating costs, regulation of internal temperatures System of allocating costs among users: heating and water billed by usage
Initial cost	Affordable price: reasonable/good price or rent, discounts or willingness to negotiate by the builder Budget constraints: state-supported construction (price per sq m within a certain frame), budgetary issues, compromise (quality-price), trade in the design, more expensive to build (wooden house) Loans, flexibility: long-term corporate loans, possibility to redeem rented plot of land, debt burden of the house

Table 3. Co-occurrence of revealed housing attributes in interviews in the various decision-making process elements.

Housing attributes	1.1 trigger	1.2 housing specification	1.3 evaluation	1.4 finalization	1.5 occupancy
2.1. Location quality
2.1.1 Services (location)	0	4	4	2	32
2.1.2 Accessibility to important areas	3	6	13	2	6
2.1.3 Social factors	0	5	6	1	12
2.1.4 Physical environments	1	9	19	2	20
2.2. Physical attributes
2.2.1 Services (building)	1	8	7	2	42
2.2.2 Material of the building	0	8	21	11	24
2.2.3 Durability of building	0	0	2	5	10
2.2.4. Energy use of building	0	2	4	0	5
2.2.5 Ambiance of building	1	5	6	1	55
2.2.6 Aesthetic of building	0	2	6	3	16
2.2.7 Apartment size/layout	0	13	7	4	1
2.2.8 Other	0	3	2	2	3
2.3. Market value of home
2.3.1 Resale value	0	2	3	2	3
2.3.2 Maintenance cost	0	1	2	5	12
2.3.3 Initial cost	1	10	20	7	1
2.3.4 Other	0	0	3	0	0
3.0 Sustainability discussion	0	4	7	4	5
Total	7	82	132	53	247

Figure 1. Themes of housing criteria during the decision-making phases