Housing allowance can cover up to
70% of your housing costs
General housing allowance
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Can you get general housing allowance?
General housing allowance can be paid to households consisting of a single person or several persons. Housing allowance is granted to the household as a unit, so the amount of housing allowance will depend on the total income and assets of the entire household.
- If you have a small income, you can get general housing allowance
General housing allowance is available for rental, right-of-occupancy and part-ownership housing.
Read more about the housing costs for which you can get housing allowance. - General housing allowance is affected by several factors, such as your income and your housing costs
You can get housing allowance if your income does not exceed the income limit for your municipality. Only part of your housing costs are taken into account when calculating your housing allowance.
Read more about the factors that affect the housing allowance. - Use an online calculator to estimate your benefits
Because there are several factors that affect the housing allowance, the easiest way to get an estimate is to use our calculator.
Go to the calculator. - Apply for housing allowance
You can apply for housing allowance either on a form or in the OmaKela e-service.
Read more about how to apply for housing allowance.
Maximum limits have been defined for recognised housing costs. They vary by municipality, and they are also known as maximum housing costs. The amount of housing allowance you can get cannot exceed the municipality-specific maximum limit for recognised housing costs.
If you study, you cannot, as a rule, get general housing allowance. The majority of students can get the housing supplement for students to help with their housing costs.
However, you can qualify for general housing allowance instead of the student housing supplement for example in the following situations:
- You live with your own child or your partner’s child.
- You are paid some other benefit during your studies that is not student financial aid, such as unemployment benefits, rehabilitation allowance or sickness allowance.
- You have suspended your studies or used up all months of student financial aid available to you.
- You have not made enough progress during your studies and we have stopped the payment of your student financial aid as a result
You can get housing allowance for pensioners if you are living permanently in Finland, you have a low income and you receive a pension which entitles you to the housing allowance for pensioners.
You may have the right to general housing allowance (yleinen asumistuki) if you have moved to Finland from another country and you live in Finland permanently. You will usually be considered to be living in Finland permanently after you have lived in Finland for one year. General housing allowance is paid to a household. Only persons who live in Finland can belong to the same household. More information about when persons who have moved to Finland can get Kela benefits.
Did you come to Finland to work?
You may have the right to general housing allowance if you have moved to Finland to work and you are the citizen of an EU or EEA country or Switzerland. More information about when persons who work in Finland can get Kela benefits.
Have you fled the war in Ukraine?
You may have the right to general housing allowance if you have fled the war in Ukraine and you live in Finland permanently. More information about when persons who have fled the war in Ukraine can get Kela benefits.
Who belongs to a household?
A household typically includes the persons sharing a home on a permanent basis. You can only be a member of one household at a time. One member of the household applies for housing allowance on behalf of the entire household.
Persons who are married or in a relationship and are sharing a home belong to the same household regardless of whether they have a joint rental agreement or separate rental agreements.
A spouse or partner who is entitled to the housing supplement for students is not considered part of the household. Their income or assets therefore do not affect the amount of the general housing allowance.
Married couples living at different addresses also belong to the same household if the reason that they live apart is, for example, work, studies, or military or non-military service in another municipality.
Note the following exception!
Married spouses are considered to be part of different households if they live apart because their relationship has ended. Read more about the way divorce or separation affects your Kela benefits.
Roommates can be part of the same household or two different households.
Part of the same household
- roommates with a joint rental agreement
- roommates who under the rental agreement (or an appendix to the agreement) are jointly responsible for paying rent.
Roommates belonging to the same household must authorise one member of their household to apply for housing allowance for the whole household. Use the form ‘Power of attorney to represent a communal household’ AT5e (PDF) to authorise one household member. If housing allowance is granted to the household, it is paid to the authorised person.
Part of different households
- roommates with separate rental agreements
- roommates who are subletting an apartment
Further, in order to be considered to be part of different households, roommates may not be jointly responsible for paying rent for the entire dwelling (as specified under the rental agreement or an appendix to it).
Note these specific situations
A married couple, a cohabiting couple or close relatives are part of the same household if they live at the same address, regardless of the terms of their rental agreement. Close relatives means parents, children and grandparents.
Siblings sharing a home are part of different households if they have separate rental agreements or a sublease agreement.
Close relatives sharing a home are part of the same household regardless of the terms of their rental agreement. Close relatives are
- parents
- children
- grandparents.
Siblings may belong to different households
Siblings sharing a home are part of different households if they have separate rental agreements or a sublease agreement
Children under the age of 18
A child under the age of 18 who is living independently and who has no income is usually considered to be part of their parents’ household.
Children aged 18 or older
Adult children (18 or older) who live independently are not part of their parents’ household.
Adult children who live with their parents belong to their parents’ household.
You are part of the same household as the persons living in your permanent residence even if you live elsewhere temporarily on account of work, military or non-military service, or other similar reasons. Living elsewhere is usually considered to be temporary if it lasts less than about a year.
A person who has moved to Finland can be considered part of a household if Kela considers the person to be permanently resident in Finland.
Students who come to Finland cannot belong to a household or get housing allowance.
Subtenants are considered to belong to a different household than the main tenant or owner, with a few exceptions.
A subtenant who is the spouse or close relative of the main tenant or owner is part of the same household. Close relatives means parents, children and grandparents.
Notify Kela if you get housing allowance and take in a subtenant.
How much general housing allowance can you get?
If your housing allowance is less than EUR 15 per month, it is not paid out.
The easiest way to find out how much housing allowance you could get is to use our online calculator. The amount of the housing allowance is affected by
- the number of adults and children in the household
- income and assets
- housing costs for which you can get housing allowance
- the maximum limits for housing costs defined for each municipality (maximum housing costs)
- the basic deductible.
Read more about the way housing costs, income and assets affect housing allowance.
Estimate how much housing allowance you can get
Use our calculator to check how much housing allowance you might get. The result is an estimate.
Payment of the housing allowance
Kela pays the housing allowance into your bank account or your landlord’s account on the first banking day of the month. If the banks are closed on the scheduled payment date, the housing allowance will be paid on the next banking day. The housing allowance is tax-free income.
If you get housing allowance retroactively, the allowance will generally appear in your bank account within two banking days of payment. Housing allowance is available retroactively for one month.
Kela can pay the housing allowance directly to your landlord’s account if you give your consent.
Kela can also pay the housing allowance directly to the landlord if you have left part of or all your rent unpaid for two months in a row. In situations like that, we will contact you before we pay your housing allowance.
How to apply for general housing allowance
You can apply for general housing allowance either on a form or in the OmaKela e-service. OmaKela is currently only available in Finnish and Swedish. Kela’s forms are also available in English.
Apply in OmaKela
- Use the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish) to apply for general housing allowance.
- Submit supporting documents in OmaKela. Take photographs of the documents you are sending if they are not in a digital format.
Rental agreement
Send Kela a copy of your signed rental agreement with your application if Kela does not get it directly from your landlord. Check the list of landlords who send rental agreement information directly to Kela.
Do you represent your household?
Complete and submit the form Power of attorney to represent a communal household AT 5e (PDF) with your application if you and your roommate(s) belong to the same household and you represent the household.
Have you moved to Finland from another country?
You must submit a notification of moving to Finland in OmaKela or on the form Notification – Moving to Finland or employment in Finland Y 77e (PDF) if you are applying for housing allowance for the first time since you moved to Finland and Kela has not yet checked if you or another member of your household qualifies for Kela benefits.
Have you moved to another country?
Tell Kela about your move to or your stay in another country in OmaKela or on the form Moving from Finland or employment abroad Y 38e (PDF).
Apply for housing allowance
Submit your application and supporting documents online.
Go to OmaKela to see if Kela has made a decision on your application. You will also see how much you will get and when your benefit will be paid. If supporting documents are missing from your application, you will get a reminder about that in OmaKela.
In OmaKela, you can also give consent for Kela to send you messages. This will help make your application process and other contacts with Kela quicker.
Do as follows if you cannot use OmaKela:
- Apply for housing allowance on the form Application – General housing allowance AT 1e (PDF)
- Save the blank form to your device. Do not fill in the form directly in the browser because some of the information may not be saved that way.
- Fill in the form and print it out. Remember to sign the form.
- Send the form together with any supporting documents to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
Housing allowance is always granted as of the first day of the month. For example, if your rental agreement enters into force on 15 March, you will start receiving housing allowance as of 1 April.
You can get housing allowance retroactively for up to one month from the month of application. For example, if you wish to get housing allowance from the beginning of January, your application must reach Kela before the end of February.
Kela gets wage and salary information from the Incomes Register and uses this information when processing your application. We may ask you for more information if we need it.
The decision notice is only in Finnish or Swedish. If you need help with something, you can call one of our English language customer service numbers.
Landlords that provide rental agreement information directly to Kela
Kela gets information about rental agreements directly from certain landlords. If your landlord is on the list below, you do not need to send us your rental agreement or details of the amount of your rent.
If your landlord is not on the list, send your rental agreement together with your application. You must always send us your rental agreement if you have rented your flat from a private landlord.
