Almost half likely to return

This is among the findings of a survey by Þórkatla among those who have sold properties in the town to the company. Former residents of Grindavík were also asked how their adjustment had gone in their new place and about their experience of Þórkatla's housing purchases in the town.

When asked how well or poorly the family's adjustment had gone in their new place, 49% said it had gone well while 23% said it had gone poorly. The survey also found that only 14% of participants considered the long-standing ban on accommodation to be fair. This is consistent with the experience of Þórkatla's staff, who are now three weeks into the decision to allow accommodation in the company's properties in the town and are very pleased with the decision. Since the change came into effect, applications have been made for accommodation in around 70 properties in the town.

Respondents were also asked about their experience with Þórkatla's services, now that almost all of the buyouts have been completed, and 50% said they were rather or very satisfied with their experience with Þórkatla. Those who said they were very dissatisfied were 13% and 12% were rather dissatisfied.

Örn Viðar Skúlason, Þórkatla's managing director, says it is valuable for the company to receive information directly from the Grindvík people about what they thought went well and what could have been done better in this extensive project.

"We are very grateful to the people of Grindavík for their feedback. It is important for us to be able to look back and learn from the process. The first few weeks were of course very challenging and full of uncertainty. We would have liked to have done better in providing information to applicants. But it was good to see that as time went on there seemed to be more general satisfaction with the process. It was also useful to gain insight into the number of people who are interested in returning to the town, as our goal is to enable residents to buy their properties back when conditions allow," says Örn Viðar.

Considering the interest of the people of Grindavík in returning to the town, Þórkatla is very interested in starting to lease properties to former owners in the autumn, if conditions allow. In Þórkatla's opinion, long-term lease agreements that take into account the conditions and limited services in Grindavík would be an important next step in the development of the town. However, current rent laws, which naturally do not take into account the special circumstances in Grindavík, place significant restrictions on the company in this regard.