Kuopio housing company appeals swim ladder ruling

A housing company in Kuopio has asked the Court of Appeal of Eastern Finland for permission to appeal a ruling ordering four privately built swimming ladders to be removed. Yle reports that the dispute has cost the company more than 40,000 euros.

The case concerns equal treatment of shareholders. In September 2025, the company’s general meeting decided that shareholders could install swimming ladders behind their homes at their own expense. Four shareholders built ladders, some beneath the balconies of upstairs neighbours, who said they reduced privacy and disturbed their homes.

The neighbours also argued that the ladders lowered the value of the upstairs apartments while increasing the value of the lower-level homes. The company’s rules prohibit movement in the back yard on safety and privacy grounds.

District court ordered ladders removed

The North Savo District Court ruled in July that the company’s general meeting and board had breached the principle of equal treatment by allowing some shareholders to build ladders on a shared area. It annulled the decisions, ordered the existing ladders removed and barred new ones.

The housing company argues that the ladders do not undermine equal treatment because every shareholder has the right to build one. It also disputes that they reduce privacy or the value of upstairs apartments, noting that the company has a shared boat pier and swimming ladders.

The company says the general meeting approved construction, not a right to use or cross the back yard. It also argues that residents in the second-floor apartments cannot see or hear the yard.

Dispute has cost more than 40,000 euros

The district court ordered the company to pay about 26,700 euros in legal costs to the shareholders who challenged the ladders. The company’s own costs exceeded 16,000 euros. It is asking the appeal court to order those shareholders to pay its costs.

One shareholder has also appealed, arguing that the people who made the decision should cover the costs rather than the housing company as a whole.

The terraced housing company, built in 2023, has 11 homes and is located in Kuopio’s Saaristokaupunki district. The appeal proceedings are still under way.