Public sector surplus floods auction sites

Tuusula municipality is selling nearly 900 items of surplus office furniture and equipment as it relocates to a smaller council hall, illustrating a wider trend of public bodies liquidating assets amid service-network cuts.

According to Annaliisa Oksanen, municipal secretary in Tuusula, the move from interim premises to the new service and business hub Särmä leaves surplus desks, meeting booths and heavy safes without a home. “We’re going into rented space and the interim sites contain a lot of items that simply won’t fit or belong there,” she said.

The municipality has listed the items on Kiertonetti, a state-run online auction platform where public-sector surplus is sold. Project worker Nicky Rokicki is photographing and cataloguing each piece, checking for damage and deciding whether to recycle broken items rather than offer them for sale.

Kiertonetti’s chief executive Pekka Kallunki said the number of public-sector auctions on the site has risen almost 40 per cent in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year. “We’re seeing large hospital clearances and widespread municipal asset sales, especially as schools close,” he said. “Used office furniture is particularly sought-after.”

Kallunki noted that public bodies typically earn unexpectedly high prices for items ranging from chairs to medical equipment, with reliability and maintenance records boosting buyer confidence.