Information on general housing allowance changes

Finnish parliament has approved cuts to the general housing allowance, which will reduce the rates of the allowance in 2024. Most of the changes took place on 1 April 2024. If you already receive general housing allowance, these cuts will affect your allowance when your allowance is reviewed in April 2024 or later. Read more from Kela’s website: kela.fi/general-housing-allowance

The amount of general housing allowance also depends on tenant’s monthly income. We remind our tenants that they are responsible for handling their own matters with Kela. POAS does not apply for housing allowance, submit attachments or notify changes to Kela on behalf of tenants. If there are any changes in your living situation or income, please inform Kela in advance.

Acceptable housing costs

The housing allowance does not cover the entire rent. Instead, so-called acceptable housing costs are defined for each type of housing. The size of the apartment is not relevant. The maximum amount of housing costs based on which you can get housing allowance is also specified by law. That amount is referred to as maximum housing costs and is proportional to the number of adults and children in the household. All adults mentioned in the same rental agreement including minor children living in the same apartment belong to the same household. See the acceptable housing costs from Kela’s website: kela.fi/general-housing-allowance-for-which-costs

Problems with paying rent?

Delay in the Kela’s housing allowance decision is not a reason not to pay your rent. If you have any trouble paying your rent on time, contact our rent supervision immediately. If you contact us before the due date, we can be flexible with the payment schedule and discuss a payment plan with you. More information on paying rent.

Contact rent supervision: Send a message in our tenant portal

Moving to a cheaper apartment

If you wish to move to a cheaper apartment, we recommend you to apply for a new apartment as soon as possible. There are more available apartments and less housing applicants around this time of the year. In the summer and early autumn there are thousands of applicants, as new students are moving into the city.

If you are already living in POAS apartment, and would like to change to another apartment within POAS, you need to submit a new housing application. Submit the application on our website as usual. The need and the urgency of the need are taken into consideration when changing apartments too. More information on apartment changes.