Housing benefits for students about to change in August – how will this affect you?
Students have been transferred under a new housing supplement scheme in August. The majority of students can get the new student housing supplement from the beginning of the autumn term 2025. In this article, we give a few pointers and walk you through the things all students should know about the changes.
General housing allowance versus the housing supplement for students – what is the difference?
From 1 August 2025 onwards, students can get a housing supplement for students. This means that general housing allowance will no longer be paid to students after 31 July 2025. The change will not apply to students who live with their child or their partner’s child. They can apply for general housing allowance as before.
You can be paid the student housing supplement if you live in rented or right-of-occupancy housing and you qualify for student financial aid. The student housing supplement is paid for active months of study, and the same annual income limit applies to both the housing supplement and student financial aid.
Please note that the student housing supplement is a personal benefit. This means that everyone who qualifies must apply for it separately. You can apply for the student housing supplement in the OmaKela e-service. The supplement will be paid from 1 August 2025 onwards.
The student housing supplement can be paid only to your own bank account. It cannot be paid directly to your landlord.
You cannot choose the type of housing benefit yourself – if you qualify for student financial aid, you can be paid the student housing supplement. You cannot be granted general housing allowance for those months for which you cancel or pay back your student financial aid.
The amount of student housing supplement you can get depends on which municipality you live in and how high your housing costs are. The amount is up to 80% of your rent or the residence charge of your right-of-occupancy housing.
Maximum amount of student housing supplement by municipality of residence
- Espoo, Helsinki, Kauniainen and Vantaa: EUR 296 per month
- Hyvinkää, Hämeenlinna, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Järvenpää, Kerava, Kirkkonummi, Kuopio, Lahti, Lohja, Nokia, Nurmijärvi, Oulu, Porvoo, Raisio, Riihimäki, Rovaniemi, Seinäjoki, Sipoo, Siuntio, Tampere, Turku, Tuusula and Vihti: EUR 248 per month
- All other municipalities: EUR 216 per month
If you live in a home owned by or rented from your parent or parents, the maximum student housing supplement you can get is EUR 83 per month. Your student housing supplement is not affected if your home is owned by some other relative and not your parent or parents.
You can also get the student housing supplement for studies you complete abroad. The student housing supplement available for students living in a rented home abroad is EUR 210 per month.
If you are enrolled in a fee-based study programme organised by a Finnish folk high school, sports institute or the Sámi Educational Institute and live in a school dormitory, you can get a housing supplement of EUR 88.87 per month.
The amount of the student housing supplement is affected only by your own income. It is not affected by the income of your partner or your parents. Any assets you may have, such as savings, also do not affect the amount of the housing supplement.
The student housing supplement is paid only for months of active study. Your income will affect the number of months per year for which you can get the housing supplement. The same income limits apply to both the student housing supplement and the rest of your student financial aid. Make sure that your income does not exceed your annual income limit.
If your income exceeds your annual income limit, you must cancel or pay back both your study grant and the student housing supplement to Kela. You should first pay back your student financial aid for those months in which you received the smallest amount of aid. For example, when it comes to student financial aid paid to you in 2025, you should pay back the financial aid you received in the early months of the year first as you were only paid a study grant in those months.
You cannot be granted general housing allowance for those months for which you cancel or pay back your student financial aid to raise your annual income limit.
From 1 August 2025 onwards, you can apply for general housing allowance for instance in the following situations:
- You live with your own child or your partner’s child.
- You are paid some other benefit during your studies than 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 sufficient progress during your studies and we have suspended the payment of your student financial aid as a result.
Are you about to go back to school?
Are you going back to your institution of higher education to continue your studies in autumn? You can be paid the student housing supplement if you live in rented or right-of-occupancy housing and you qualify for student financial aid.
You can apply for the student housing supplement in OmaKela. You should apply for the supplement as early as possible. If you are already being paid student financial aid, apply for the housing supplement for students with a separate application. How to apply for the housing supplement.
You can be paid general housing allowance until 31 July 2025 if you are eligible for it. Students enrolled in higher education who continue their studies in autumn will not be paid either kind of housing benefit in August 2025.
However, if you study during the summer and you are paid student financial aid during the summer months, you can apply to be paid the student housing supplement from 1 August 2025 onwards. Please note that if you are paid student financial aid during the summer months, those months will be deducted from the total number of financial aid months available to you. This will also reduce your annual income limit.
You can also draw down your student loan for the autumn term from 1 August 2025 onwards. The student loan is a government-guaranteed loan that you must pay back. Interest accrued on the loan is added to the loan amount.
Thinking of applying for social assistance? Check these things first
Do you attend an upper secondary school or a vocational school? You can be paid the student housing supplement if you live in rented or right-of-occupancy housing and you qualify for student financial aid. If you are under 17 years of age and you live independently, you can get the student housing supplement even if you cannot be paid a study grant yet.
The amount of the student housing supplement is affected only by your own income. It is not affected by the income of your partner or your parents.
If you are enrolled in a fee-based study programme organised by a Finnish folk high school, sports institute or the Sámi Educational Institute and live in a school dormitory, you can get a housing supplement of EUR 88.87 per month as before.
You can apply for the student housing supplement in OmaKela. You should apply for the supplement as early as possible. If you are already being paid student financial aid, apply for the housing supplement with a separate application. How to apply for the housing supplement.
You can be paid general housing allowance until 31 July 2025 if you are eligible for it.
If you have applied for a student loan guarantee, you can also withdraw the first student loan instalment of the new academic year on 1 August 2025. The student loan is a government-guaranteed loan that you must pay back. Interest accrued on the loan is added to the loan amount.
Thinking of applying for social assistance? Check these things first
If you have graduated before 1 August 2025, you can get general housing allowance also after your graduation. This means that the change has no effect on your housing allowance.
However, you should make sure to apply for a review of your general housing allowance for example if you get a job and your income changes. Apply for a review also if there is a change in your housing costs or other circumstances.
Are you about to start a new course of study?
Will you begin a new course of study at an institution of higher education in autumn? You can be paid the student housing supplement if you live in rented or right-of-occupancy housing and you qualify for student financial aid. You can get both forms of aid right from the beginning of your studies.
You can apply for the student housing supplement after you have accepted your offer of admission and you know where you will be living during your studies. Apply for the student housing supplement in OmaKela after you have applied for student financial aid. If you do not know where you will be living in autumn, you should apply for student financial aid first. You can then apply for the student housing supplement after you have signed a lease agreement or a right-of-occupancy agreement. How to apply for the housing supplement.
Teaching usually begins at institutions of higher education in late August or early September. This means that you can get student financial aid and the housing supplement for students from 1 September 2025 onwards. You can be paid general housing allowance until 31 August 2025 if you are eligible for it.
Will you begin a new course of study at an upper secondary school or a vocational school in autumn? You can be paid the student housing supplement if you live in rented or right-of-occupancy housing and you qualify for student financial aid. If you are under 17 years of age and you live independently, you can get the student housing supplement even if you cannot be paid a study grant yet.
The amount of the student housing supplement is affected only by your own income. It is not affected by the income of your partner or your parents.
Teaching usually begins at upper secondary schools and vocational schools in early August. This means that you can get student financial aid and the housing supplement for students from 1 August 2025 onwards.
You can apply for the student housing supplement after you have accepted your offer of admission and you know where you will be living during your studies. Apply for the student housing supplement in OmaKela after you have applied for student financial aid. If you do not know where you will be living in autumn, you should apply for student financial aid first. You can then apply for the student housing supplement after you have signed a lease agreement or a right-of-occupancy agreement. How to apply for the housing supplement.
If you start your military or non-military service in summer 2025 and you have been paid general housing allowance before you go into service, you can get general housing allowance for the entire duration of your service. If we have stopped the payment of your general housing allowance as of 1 August 2025 because you are a student and we did not know you will start service, apply to be paid conscript’s allowance for your housing costs. When we process your application for conscript’s allowance, we will also reassess your right to general housing allowance.
Are you about to transition from military or non-military service to student life? We will pay you conscript’s allowance up until the end of the last month of your service.
If your military or non-military service ends during the summer and you begin a new course of study or continue your studies at an institution of higher education in the autumn term, you can apply for general housing allowance for July and August. You can apply to be paid student financial aid, which includes the study grant and the housing supplement for students, from September onwards. However, if you study actively in August, you can apply to be paid student financial aid from August onwards. If you do so, you cannot get general housing allowance in August as student financial aid includes the housing supplement for students and you cannot be paid both the general housing allowance and the student housing supplement at the same time.
If your military or non-military service ends during the summer and you begin studies at a vocational school in August, you can apply to be paid general housing allowance in July. You can apply to be paid student financial aid, which includes the study grant and the housing supplement for students, from August onwards.
You can apply for the student housing supplement after you have accepted your offer of admission and you know where you will be living during your studies. Apply for the student housing supplement in OmaKela after you have applied for student financial aid. How to apply for the housing supplement.
If you do not live alone
If you live with a roommate or several roommates and you are all students, please note that how you apply for housing benefits is about to change. Each roommate who is a student must apply for the student housing supplement separately for their own housing costs. The reason for this change is that the student housing supplement is a personal benefit.
If you have signed a joint lease agreement, your housing costs are usually divided equally among all roommates. If you have signed separate lease agreements, your housing costs are determined on the basis of each roommate’s own lease agreement.
Your roommates’ income does not affect the amount of student housing supplement you can get.
If one of your roommates is not a student, they can apply for general housing allowance if necessary. This means that Kela can grant you the student housing supplement while your non-student roommate gets general housing allowance.
If you lived together and belonged to the same household before the change in housing benefits entered into force, the general housing allowance must be reviewed. The person who originally applied for general housing allowance on behalf of the household can apply for the review. As a result of the review, Kela can grant general housing allowance to non-student roommates. Each roommate who is a student must apply for the student housing supplement separately.
If you live with your partner and you are both students, please note that how you apply for housing benefits is about to change. Each partner must apply for the student housing supplement separately for their own housing costs. The reason for this change is that the student housing supplement is a personal benefit.
If you live in a rented home with your partner, your share is half of the total housing costs. If you and your partner have signed separate lease agreements, your individual housing costs are added together and divided equally between you and your partner.
Your partner’s income does not affect the amount of student housing supplement you can get.
If you are a student but your partner is not a student, your partner can apply for general housing allowance if necessary. This means that Kela can grant you the student housing supplement while your non-student partner gets general housing allowance.
If you lived together before the change in housing benefits entered into force, the general housing allowance must be reviewed. The person who originally applied for general housing allowance on behalf of the household can apply for the review. As a result of the review, Kela can grant general housing allowance to your partner if they are not a student. If you are a student, you must apply for the student housing supplement separately.
Students who live together with their own child or their partner’s child can apply for general housing allowance as before.
If you are under 17 years of age
If you are under 17 years of age, you can be paid a housing supplement even if you cannot yet get a study grant. Your parents’ income does not affect the amount of the housing supplement.
Apply for student financial aid first and then for the student housing supplement. You can apply for both in the OmaKela e-service. You have to apply for student financial aid first even though you cannot get the study grant while Kela still pays the child benefit to your parents. Read more about student financial aid for students under 17.
If you live in housing owned by your parent(s)
If you live in a home owned by or rented from your parent(s), the maximum student housing supplement you can get is EUR 83 per month.
You can only get housing supplement for a home owned by your parent(s), if you have a rental agreement for the home. The rental agreement can be concluded directly with your parent(s) or through someone else.
Your home is considered to be owned by your parent(s) if your parent(s) own(s) at least half of it either directly or through a company. In connection with the housing supplement, biological parents and adoptive parents are counted as parents.
Housing supplement for abroad
You can be paid student housing supplement also if you go abroad on a study exchange or complete an entire course of study abroad. In order to qualify for the student housing supplement, you must both study and live in a rented home abroad.
You can get the student housing supplement if you study
- in a foreign educational institution
- in a Finnish educational institution and you are completing a degree-related study unit abroad.
The student housing supplement for students studying abroad is EUR 210 per month. You cannot be paid student housing supplement for a second home in Finland at the same time.
If you are not yet paid student financial aid, you can apply for the housing supplement for students and student financial aid at the same time with the same application.
If you are already being paid student financial aid and you go abroad as an exchange student, notify us about this by submitting a notification of changes for student financial aid. You can apply for the student housing supplement for your home abroad at the same time.
You can submit these applications in OmaKela once you know where you will be living while studying abroad.
Thinking of applying for social assistance? Check these things first
Before applying for social assistance, you should check on the things that may stop you from getting it. These tips will help you make sure that your application can be processed without delay. Checking these things in advance will also help you avoid disappointment over a refused application.