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🇮🇸 Iceland /Culture & Society

Grindavík residents protest outside parliament over housing uncertainty

From Morgunblaðið · () Icelandic

Translated from Icelandic, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Residents of Grindavík protested outside Iceland's parliament, demanding answers from the government regarding housing issues.
  • They are frustrated by uncertainty and the government's decision to limit property use to 12 days per month for homes sold to the state-owned company Þórkatla.
  • Protestors expressed a desire to return home and called for transparency from the government and Þórkatla, which was established to support residents after seismic activity.

Frustrated residents of Grindavík protested outside Iceland's parliament on Friday, demanding clarity from the government on housing matters.

Residents are fed up with the ongoing uncertainty and lack of clear reasoning behind government decisions concerning their homes. They specifically oppose the government's decision to restrict owners' use of houses sold to the state-owned company Þórkatla to just 12 days per month, effective August 31.

We are gathered here first and foremost to get answers from the state regarding housing in Grindavík.

— Páll Valur BjörnssonA resident of Grindavík explaining the purpose of the protest.

Páll Valur Björnsson, a 40-year resident, currently commutes daily to teach at the Fisheries College in Grindavík. He stated, "We are gathered here first and foremost to get answers from the state regarding housing in Grindavík." While acknowledging the nation's attention to Grindavík in recent years, he stressed the need for answers from Þórkatla, a state-owned real estate company formed to assist residents following seismic events.

We are incredibly dissatisfied with not being allowed to stay in our homes. We were promised some kind of solution, that we could buy the houses back or rent them. We were just told it was coming, but then nothing ever came.

— Dagmar KarlsdóttirA Grindavík resident expressing frustration over housing promises.

Dagmar Karlsdóttir, owner of the guesthouse Grindavík, a cafe, and a bike rental business, shared her family's distress. Having recently purchased both a guesthouse and a family home, her family's life in Grindavík was disrupted by the evacuation. "We are incredibly dissatisfied with not being allowed to stay in our homes. We were promised some kind of solution, that we could buy the houses back or rent them. We were just told it was coming, but then nothing ever came," she said.

Karlsdóttir questioned the fairness of the 12-day restriction, asking, "Why are we not allowed to be in our homes for more than 12 days a month while someone who doesn't rent through Þórkatla can be there as they please? Where is the fairness in that?" She added that residents feel there has been a lack of justification for the limitations and referred to an "invisible man" whose decisions they cannot understand or trace, expressing a desire to know who is making these calls. She has attempted to contact Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir without success.

Why are we not allowed to be in our homes for more than 12 days a month while someone who doesn't rent through Þórkatla can be there as they please? Where is the fairness in that?

— Dagmar KarlsdóttirQuestioning the government's housing restrictions for residents.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Morgunblaðið in Icelandic. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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