Analysis of Options for Developing an Affordable Housing Policy in Tallinn. Commissioned study by Tallinn Strategic Management Office (2025).
The study provides input for the development of Tallinn’s affordable housing policy. Architects and urban planners from the Estonian Academy of Arts, in collaboration with the University of Tartu (lead partner), made a significant contribution to it, involving experts from the Tallinn Strategy Centre and experts from both the public and private sectors.
Housing is considered affordable when its price, rent, and monthly costs allow a household to live in a dwelling of adequate quality without excessively burdening their budget.
The Current State of Affordable Housing Accessibility in Tallinn and Recommendations for Developing a More Equitable Housing Policy.
Tallinn’s housing prices and monthly costs are rising significantly faster than incomes. Increasingly, rising housing prices are putting more and more households in financial difficulties. The severity of the situation is perceived most by lower income households and young people. Reduced opportunities in the housing market are forcing them to make concessions in terms of housing conditions, space and location. Affordable housing that meets their needs can be found mainly in Lasnamäe and Mustamäe, but more and more people have to look for housing in the outskirts of Tallinn.
Finding the right sized housing for families is also a challenge – larger apartments are in short supply and often unattainably priced.
The spatial concentration and scarcity of affordable housing exacerbates spatial segregation with significant negative impacts on the economy, the environment, politics and social cohesion. The lack of adequate housing also has a negative impact on the birth rate.
Properly timed and targeted public regulatory intervention in the housing market is a crucial part of improving the fair availability of affordable housing and leveling market conditions. A balanced housing strategy is data-driven and based on an analysis of the current situation, monitoring the impact of measures, and clear spatial quality criteria.
The availability of affordable housing is becoming a problem for an increasingly wide range of households. To address this issue, Tallinn has the opportunity to become a model city for fair housing policy both in Estonia and elsewhere in Europe.
The Four Foundational Pillars for Developing Tallinn’s Affordable Housing Policy are: Strategic Guidance and Monitoring, Active Land Policy, Effective public–private partnership, Diversification of Funding Mechanisms.
When implementing the foundational pillars of affordable housing policy, it is important to consider the specific characteristics of each district and neighborhood, diversify the housing stock, and offer homes of varying sizes and price levels for residents from different socio-economic backgrounds. To illustrate combinations of measures, the study includes three sample roadmaps: Relying on the Free Market, Complementing the Market, Diversified Housing Market.
Estonian Academy of Arts working group: Mattias Malk, Toomas Tammis, Andres Ojari, Mark Aleksander Fischer, Maroš Krivý.
University of Tartu working group: Anneli Kährik, Tiit Tammaru, Kadi Kalm, Irina Smirnova, Kirils Gončarovs, Karoli Mägi, Elina Sutela (University of Turku), Sampo Ruoppila (University of Turku).
Study steering group / Tallinn Strategic Management Office: Aire Trummal, Airi Andresson, Andro Mänd, Helena Männa, Maris Rahnu, Raido Roop, Jõnn Sooniste (North Tallinn Government), Keiti Kljavin (Tallinn City Office), Kristi Grišakov (Tallinn City Planning Department).
The study report can be found here
Commissioner: Tallinn Strategic Management Office
Period: October 2024 – May 2025