Yleinen asumistuki

The general housing allowance is governed by the Act on General Housing Allowance (laki yleisestä asumistuesta 938/2014), which entered into force on 1 January 2015 and replaced the older 1975 Housing Allowance Act. The law has been amended several times, most significantly in 2017 (university students moved into the general housing allowance) and 2024–2025 (university students moved back to the student-aid housing supplement and the municipality groups were merged).

The benefit is granted and paid by Kela (Kansaneläkelaitos). More detailed rules are in the government decree on accepted maximum housing costs, updated annually, which sets the per-municipality-group rent caps. Administrative guidance is issued by Kela in its own benefit instructions.

Yleinen asumistuki is a means-tested social benefit: entitlement depends on the household's income, housing costs and the location of the dwelling. Decisions can be appealed to the Social Security Appeal Board and onward to the Insurance Court.

Yleinen asumistuki is intended for low-income households living permanently in Finland in a rented or owner-occupied dwelling. Recipients include the unemployed, part-time workers, low-paid employees and families with children. The benefit is not paid for a holiday or second home, only for a permanent residence.

Pensioners do not fall under the general housing allowance; they have their own benefit, housing allowance for pensioners (Act 571/2007).

From 1 August 2025, higher-education students moved back to the student-aid housing supplement and as a rule no longer receive general housing allowance for study months. A student can receive yleinen asumistuki for example for summer months when they do not draw student aid, or when the household includes other members such as a partner or children.

The applicant does not have to be a Finnish citizen, but residence must be permanent. EU citizens and third-country nationals must hold a valid right of residence or residence permit.

Housing allowance is always granted to a household (ruokakunta), not to an individual. A household consists of all the people permanently living in the same dwelling who are considered to share their lives economically. This is the most important — and most commonly misunderstood — concept in the general housing allowance.

The household typically includes spouses, cohabiting partners, registered partners and minor children. By contrast, flatmates who share an apartment but do not share an economic life count as separate households, each applying separately and the housing costs being divided between them.

Edge cases are common. If an adult child lives with a parent, they are counted in the same household unless they have their own separate rental contract for their own room. A subtenant and a shared-flat resident form their own household: in a shared flat, each room is essentially its own household.

Misreporting the household is the most common reason for clawback: if the applicant declares living alone but in fact a partner lives permanently in the same dwelling, Kela can recover all the benefit paid and refer the case for fraud charges.

The general housing allowance has no sharp euro-amount income cut-off; instead the benefit tapers as income rises.

Income is defined as continuous gross income: wages, self-employment income, unemployment benefits, sickness allowance, parental allowances, pensions and capital income. From the income that affects the benefit, an earned-income deduction of €300/month per working person (the so-called protected portion) is applied to encourage taking up work.

The 2026 basic deductible and full-benefit limits depend on household size, municipality, accepted housing costs and Kela's current tables. There is no single euro threshold that is safe to use for every applicant.

As a rough orientation, low-income single-person households, families with children and households with part-time earnings can qualify at different income levels. The exact figure should be checked with Kela's housing-allowance calculator or during application preparation with current household data.

The euro amount of the general housing allowance is calculated using a formula set in the Act on General Housing Allowance (938/2014). The principle is that Kela pays 80 percent of the accepted housing costs that exceed the basic deductible.

Housing allowance = 0.80 × (accepted housing costs − basic deductible)

Accepted housing costs are the actual housing costs but capped by the per-municipality-group maximum (rent ceiling). If your rent is €700/month but your municipality group's ceiling is €563/month, the calculation uses €563/month.

The basic deductible is the share of housing costs the household is assumed to pay from its own income. Its size depends on household size and income: low-income households pay a smaller deductible, and it grows with income.

The easiest way to estimate your benefit is Kela's housing-allowance calculator online.

At the start of 2025 a major structural reform took effect: the previous four municipality groups were merged into three. The aim was to simplify the system.

Group I — capital region: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen. The maximum housing cost for a single-person household is approximately €563/month.

Group II — medium-sized urban regions: about 24 municipalities, including Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti, Kuopio and several of their commuter municipalities. The maximum for a single-person household is approximately €447/month.

Group III — the rest of Finland: all other municipalities. The maximum for a single-person household is approximately €394/month.

Maxima rise with household size. Exact figures are set in the government decree published annually in Finlex.

The application is filed in OmaKela. You will need: a valid rental contract, proof of household income for the past 1–3 months (payslips, benefit decisions), and the names and personal-identity codes of all household members.

Yleinen asumistuki can be granted retroactively for at most 1 month from the date of application, so you should apply as soon as you move in or your situation changes. Decisions usually arrive within 2–4 weeks.

If your finances are tight while you wait, you can apply for basic social assistance as a bridge — it is the last-resort benefit and runs in parallel with the housing allowance once you are receiving it. Pensioners should check the separate housing allowance for pensioners via Kela rather than this benefit.

Once granted, recipients must report any material change (income, household composition, address, rent) to Kela, normally within a month. Failing to do so is the main route to clawback decisions.