Housing Guidance Service

You may contact your own rental housing company’s housing guidance service in matters regarding your housing. The counselors will help you in matters such as making payment schedules and with questions about allowances.  

Sivakka Housing Guidance  
tel. 08 314 8190 
asiakaspalvelu@sivakka.fi 

PSOAS Housing Guidance 
tel. 08 3173 110 
asumisneuvonta@psoas.fi 

M2-kodit Housing Guidance 
tel. 09 7742 5500 
m2.asumisneuvonta@ysaatio.fi 

Lumi Housing Guidance 
You may contact housing guidance through customer service tel. 020 508 5000 
asumisneuvojat@lumo.fi 

OSNA offers housing guidance services to young people at Byström One-Stop Guidance Centre on Mondays 14.00-15.30. Appointments are scheduled from the centre. 
nuortenoulu.fi/bystrom/ 

You should consider housing applications and moving carefully. When looking for a new apartment, you should calculate the rent level and your own financial situation thoroughly. You should also consider the terms and conditions of the application because strict conditions can make obtaining housing difficult. You should also note that the rent level is affected by the housing location, housing near the city centre is usually more expensive.  

Figure out first 

• The amount of rent and the apartment size. Look for housing that suits your financial situation and your life situation; overly expensive housing can lead to financial difficulties and lead to losing the apartment. You can compare reasonable rent levels to the acknowledged housing costs in your municipality’s social assistance. Read more about social assistance on Kela's website.
• A large number of conditions in your application can delay obtaining housing. Consider your conditions regarding the apartment location; apartments near the city centre are usually more expensive.  
• Consider additional costs of the apartment (water, electricity, insurance) 
• If you have unpaid rental payments, make an installment payment schedule on the debt with debt collection, a distraint office or your landlord. Bad credit records will significantly affect obtaining housing. 
• You may ask for support for rental payments from Kela: housing allowance and social assistance. You may examine the allowance amounts with Kela's calculators (in Finnish). Please note that a reasonable rent level also affects the granting of allowances. 

Applying for housing 

• Once you have filed your applications, please call or visit the rental housing company’s customer service and inquire about the terms and conditions of granting housing offers. 
• You may apply for housing online on the rental housing company’s website or by visiting their customer service. Some companies use paper applications. 
• Renew your application regularly, the application’s period of validity is usually mentioned on the application. 
• Follow the housing offerings of different rental housing companies actively. You may also check out the offerings of private rental housing companies, for example from www.vuokraovi.com.
• If you need help in filling in your applications, come and meet a housing counselor or call your local housing guidance services.  

Housing offer 

• You should always request a housing offer in writing 
• Read through the offer carefully so that you will know how it binds you (for example, temporary rental contracts) 
• Impoverished or people with low-income may apply for social assistance for their rental deposit if the move is necessary and the new apartment is reasonably priced. The rental deposit is granted by Kela as a financial commitment and will not be sent as money to the applicant’s or landlord’s account. If you need financial support for your rental deposit, please apply for the deposit from Kela. Attach the written housing offer to your application!

Mover’s check list 

• File your notice of change of address a week after the move at the latest. You may file the notice one month before the move at the earliest. 

• Direct your mail to your new address and inform your new address to the companies that send you invoices  

• Apply for home insurance or direct your old insurance to your new address 

• If you are entitled to housing allowance or student housing allowance, please apply for the allowances in time 

• If you have children, sort out how the move affects their school or daycare 

• Inform your new address to the customer service of your magazine subscriptions 

• Direct your internet contract to your new address to avoid network outages 

• Make a new electricity contract as you discontinue your old contract 

• Book a moving van or trailer in time 

• Sort out the moving schedule of the people who used to live in your new apartment, if possible, to help you plan your moving schedule 

Moving out 

• Make sure the apartment is in as good a condition as it was when you moved in and that all fire alarms are functional 

• If you have touched the apartment or something has broken, fix them or agree on repairs with the property manager 

• Clean the apartment and your storage spaces thoroughly 

• Items you are discarding as you move (such as furniture, car tires etc.) are not allowed to be left in the property’s waste collection point. All costs due to transferring the items will be charged from you. 

• Return all keys to the property maintenance. If all the keys have not been returned, all the property’s locks will be rekeyed, and you will be charged for the work. If your moving day is on the weekend, please return at least one spare key on the earliest weekday or agree on the matter with your property maintenance. 

I have financial problems and cannot pay my rent. What can I do? 

Please contact your landlord and discuss the possibility of a payment schedule. If the financial problems are recurring, you should consider if your apartment’s rent level is too high for your income or if you have some expenses you could cut out. 

You should contact housing guidance services if you need help in figuring out your situation and rental payments. The housing counselor can also help you in other problem situations regarding housing such as housing applications. The sooner you contact, the easier the situation is to resolve.  

You may call the housing counselors on weekdays or contact them by e-mail:
asumisneuvonta(a)ouka.fi. 

I have a bad credit record. Can I find an apartment? 

You can apply for housing even if you have a mention in your credit record. The mention is not an absolute obstacle to finding housing. If your credit record is bad due to unpaid rental payments, often you must pay them before you can find new housing. Check your credit record to see whether or not you have mentions regarding housing. You may check your credit record from Suomen Asiakastieto Oy (omatieto.fi) or from a distraint office if needed.  

I am unemployed. What can I do? How will I pay rent? 

Please register as an unemployed job seeker at TE-services. You are most likely entitled to earnings-related unemployment allowance or Kela’s unemployment benefit. You may also apply for housing allowance from Kela and check if you are entitled to social support (www.kela.fi/social-assistance). If you want help in figuring out your situation, you may contact housing guidance services. 

I cannot afford my rental security deposit, what can I do? 

Impoverished or people on low-income may apply for social assistance for their rental security deposit if the move is necessary and the new apartment is reasonably priced. Please check the reasonable rent levels from Kela.

The rental security deposit is granted by Kela as a financial commitment and will not be sent as money to the applicant’s or landlord’s account. If you need financial support for your rental security deposit, please apply for the deposit from Kela. Attach the written housing offer to your application. 

My landlord discontinued my rental contract, what can I do? 

You should make housing applications for many different renters as soon as possible. 

If the contract is discontinued due to unpaid rent, make an installment payment schedule on the debt with debt collection, a distraint office or your landlord. Mentions regarding housing payments in your credit record make finding housing significantly more difficult. 

If you need more information about the end of your housing contract or applying for new housing, you may contact your region’s housing guidance services. 

What is a reasonable rent level? 

Apply for housing that fits your financial situation and life situation; overly expensive housing can lead to financial problems and being unable to pay rent and thus can lead to losing the apartment.

Compare reasonable rent levels to the acknowledged housing costs in your municipality’s social assistance on Kela’s website. 

If you are entitled to housing allowance, you may check the reasonable rent level in your home municipality on Kela’s website. NB: the housing costs acknowledged in housing allowances differ from those in social assistance. 

I can’t seem to find rental housing. How can I bring more attention to my application? 

Please ensure that you have not defined too strict conditions in your application regarding matters such as the apartment location. Earlier unpaid rents and bad credit records can delay finding housing for example. Be active with your applications, inquire about possible offers from the rental housing company after leaving the application. The housing counselors cannot affect the resident selection of companies. The counselors cannot write recommendation letters. 

There is a plumbing renovation happening in my apartment. Can I receive temporary housing? 

Inquire the possibility of temporary rental housing from different landlords. You may also apply for housing from accommodation businesses. Private individuals also rent apartments for temporary time periods. 

Information regarding housing 

• ARA The Housing Finance and Development Center of Finland
• ABCs of housing
• infoFinland.fi Housing in Finland
• The Consumer's Union of Finland
• Act on Residential Leases
• Vuokralaiset VKL ry Tenant Advice 
• Finland's Environmental Administration

Guidance and advice 

• Byströmin Youth Services (in Finnish)
• Pohde Social Services (in Finnish)
• Pohde Housing Services (in Finnish)

Economic support and social assistance 

• Housing Benefits
• Kela - social assistance
• Pohde - Supplementary and preventative social assistance (in Finnish)
• Social credit (in Finnish)

Financial difficulties 

• Credit record (in Finnish)
• Financial and Debt Counselling
• Economic Guidance Centre (in Finnish)
• Takuusäätiö - Guarantee Foundation
• National Enforcement Authority of Finland