Svalbard Statsbygg plans to replace older state homes in Longyearbyen
Digitaliserings- og forvaltningsdepartementet (the digitalisation ministry) has asked Statsbygg (the Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property) to start a clarification phase for the first building stage of replacing state-owned homes in Longyearbyen. The Government set this out in its Svalbard budget proposition for 2027, presented on 7 October 2026. The idea under study is that Statsbygg replaces homes built before 2018/19 with new buildings over 30 years. The ministry's own proposition for 2027 also plans to buy homes in Longyearbyen.
The ministry's proposition describes a considerable maintenance backlog on the buildings Statsbygg manages on Svalbard, partly because of climate change. It rates their technical condition as unsatisfactory. Some dwellings must be taken out of use in the coming years because of settling damage that the text links to global warming.
The Government states its reasons in two documents. In the Svalbard proposition, it says housing policy should let Longyearbyen develop within the aims of Svalbard policy, and that growth is not a goal. The housing stock is therefore not to exceed the level before the avalanches of 2015 and 2017. Family dwellings should not fall in number when avalanche-exposed ones are replaced.
The Svalbard proposition says Statsbygg took over 123 council dwellings on 1 April 2026. It now manages more than 400 in Longyearbyen and rents about 35 on the market to meet the need in its housing pool. The clarification phase will show whether to go ahead, as the state's project model requires for large investments.
In its press release of 7 October 2026, Justis- og beredskapsdepartementet (the Ministry of Justice and Public Security) said the Government will continue to prioritise Longyearbyen in 2027. Minister Astri Aas-Hansen said the Government wants to facilitate a Norwegian family community there, and that the cost of living on Svalbard is part of whether the place is attractive. She said several large infrastructure projects are planned in the coming years, some at the same time. Such work in a small community calls for good coordination of the planning, she said.
The release says the Government proposes higher grants to Longyearbyen lokalstyre (the local council) and to Sysselmesteren (the Governor of Svalbard). The council's grant would cover maintenance of the avalanche protection under Sukkertoppen and in Vannledningsdalen, and rent compensation tied to the handover of dwellings to Statsbygg. Among the longer projects for 2027, it lists a process to upgrade Statsbygg's housing stock.
Updated 30 October 2026: rewritten from the Government's budget proposals for 2027.