In the next few years, Heka will update its lease agreements, in connection with which the indoor smoking ban will be extended to all of its rental apartments.
In apartments and smoking on balconies will be phased out in all Heka rental apartments by 2026.
Heka, or Helsinki City Housing Oy, announced on Tuesday to harmonize the lease agreements of its residents in stages during the years 2024–2026.
With the new lease agreements, Heka extends the smoking ban to all of its apartments, both indoors and outdoors.
Common ones premises and yards, with the exception of smoking areas, already apply. In the future, some rental properties may also become completely smoke-free.
“Everyone has the right to smoke-free housing. Unifying lease agreements is the most effective way to update the indoor smoking ban to all our lease agreements,” Heka's CEO Jaana Närö says in the announcement.
In many There is still no smoking ban in Heka's rental contracts. Complaints about neighbors smoking have been very common, Närö tells HS. That has been one of the reasons for the upcoming ban.
“There has been criticism that the smoker's right to smoke wherever he wants is stronger than the resident's right to a smoke-free home and living”, Närö repeats the content of the complaints.
Jaana Närö
“Even I get very often complaints about how you couldn't keep the balcony doors and windows open in the summer, when the cigarette smoke got everywhere,” says Närö.
Heka justifies the decision by, among other things, improving living comfort and health, when the harmful effects of smoking are reduced.
In addition, Heka incurs significant costs each year for repairing damage caused by indoor smoking.
“We thought that now is the right time to intervene in this,” says Närö.
In part Heka's rental properties currently only have smoking bans for public and shared spaces.
Even in the yard, you can only smoke in a smoking area, if there is one. However, not all locations may have one, says Närö.
“If there are windows, balconies or children's daycares nearby, you can't get one everywhere. But let's try to do as many as possible.”
So far, Närö has not heard any feedback about the smoking ban.
No smoking in addition, Heka's lease agreements standardize the contract terms regarding, for example, water invoicing and the move-in date. Consolidation does not affect the rent of the apartment.
According to Heka, there are approximately 34,000 lease agreements in need of unification, i.e. the majority of Heka's lease agreements.
The unification of rental agreements starts in East Helsinki. The first updated leases will enter into force in January 2025 at the latest.
In the future, all Heka tenants will have the same terms of the lease.
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