Who can apply for a Hoas apartment?
Who can apply?
You can apply for a Hoas apartment if you fill all our criteria for tenants. This means that you are:
- Full-time student
- Being a full-time student means different things in different studies. Check the definitions on Kela’s website.
- Degree student
- Studies that lead to a degree are for example upper secondary matriculation examination, vocational education, bachelor’s or master’s degree in a university or university of applied sciences.
- For example, continued vocational training doesn’t lead to a degree but rather completes a qualification that you already have.
- Entitled to student financial aid
- Check from Kela if you are eligible for financial aid during your studies. If you are eligible for student financial aid, you can apply for Hoas apartment.
- You don’t have to use the financial aid, and you can apply for housing even if you have used all of your student financial aid.
- For example, apprenticeship does not entitle to the student financial aid.
- Your school is in the capital area
- Capital area is Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, and Kauniainen.
- In remote and online degrees, the schools must be located in the capital area.
- OR you are an exchange student in one of the co-operating schools
- More information about exchange student housing is on exchange students pages.
Additionally, to apply you need to have
- Official identity document if you are of legal age.
- Consent from your guardian if you are underage.
- Consent from your supervisor of interests if you have one.
Who are not eligible to apply for a Hoas apartment?
Hoas tenant selection criteria are not met by all schools and types of study. For example, doing an apprenticeship does not entitle to the student financial aid, and continued vocational training doesn’t lead to a degree but rather completes a degree that you already have.
You can’t apply if you are studying in/for:
- Apprenticeship training (excluding max 12 months of apprenticeship training as a part of your degree)
- Comprehensive school
- Training course or preparatory training for vocational education
- Open university of applied sciences or open university
- Specialized vocational qualification
- Further vocational skills
- Additional post-doctorate studies
OR
- Your school is not on the list on the application form
Exchange students
You can apply for Hoas apartment for the duration of your exchange if you are an exchange student in one of the co-operating schools. Read about co-operating schools, what types of housing we offer, when to apply, and more from our exchange students pages.
Underage applicants
Under 18-year-olds can apply for a Hoas apartment. When you are applying as an underage person, please enter one of your guardians’ details on the application form. Fill the details carefully in the space reserved for them. We will check this guardian’s credit information.
Additionally, as an underage applicant, you’ll need your guardians consent for us to offer you an apartment. Your guardian can give their consent with a Guardian’s consent form. If you have two guardians, both must fill and sign Guardian’s consent form.
Email the consent form to Hoas’ housing services. You can find the Guardian’s consent form our Online services page.
Supervisor of interests
If you have a supervisor of interests, you should provide Hoas with a copy of the court decision on supervision and a consent form from the supervisor.
There are no special conditions for signing a tenancy agreement with a person under supervision of interests, but a notification of the apartment offer and the tenancy agreement will be sent to the supervisor.
Email the court decision and the consent form to Hoas’ housing services. Supervisor of interests’ consent form can be found from Online services page.
Temporary stay in the capital region
As a student from outside the capital area, you can apply for a Hoas apartment if you stay in the capital area due to internship, research, or thesis related to your current studies. You can apply for apartment only for the duration of the internship, research, or thesis work.
Hoas has furnished apartments available for the spring term from January to May and unfurnished apartments for the summer months from January to August. Anyone who has a temporary job or studies in the capital area or surrounding municipalities can apply for spring and summer apartments. Read more about spring and summer apartments.
Members of the boards in national student organizations like SYL and SAMOK can rent Hoas apartments for the duration of their term in the board of directors.
Who has priority for apartment offer?
Not anyone can stay in Hoas apartments because Hoas student housing is subsidized by the state. Hoas tenant selection is regulated by ARA (Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland) as well as Hoas’ rules which affect the choice of tenants.
Priority will be given to applicants who are
- homeless
- of modest means and/or have a low income
- otherwise in urgent need of an apartment
- studying to complete degree
Additionally
- At the beginning of terms any apartments that become available are offered to new students. The applicants who come from outside of the capital area have a priority.
- Apartments located in Helsinki are primarily given to those who study in Helsinki.
- Some properties have their own specific rules that are based on the ownership of the properties and the conditions of land leases.
Basic degree students
Basic degree students are those who:
- study to pass upper secondary matriculation examinations (Note: if you study in an upper secondary school for adults, check if you are entitled for student financial aid by Kela)
- study for a basic qualification in a vocational school
- study for a bachelor or master level degree in a university of applied sciences
- study for a bachelor or master level degree in a university
- study for a licentiate degree in the faculty of medicine, veterinary science or dentistry in a university
Post-graduate students
Post-graduate students are those who study at the university for their licentiate or doctorate (except for the faculties of medicine, veterinary science, and dentistry). Post-graduate students must have a right to study and be attending students.
Apartments are offered following the campus principle
We aim to find our applicants a housing solution that supports their studies. The apartments are rented out according to the campus principle. The applicants are offered an apartment that is near their school and/or close to public transport, in the city where they are studying.
Hoas considers the transport connections good if a one-way trip to school on public transport takes a maximum of 45-50 minutes.
Special conditions due to land lease contract
Some properties owned by Hoas have specific arrangements, for example with the land owner, which lead to exceptions in tenant selection.
- The family apartments in the following properties are rented primarily to families with children: Harustie 7-8, Karstulantie 8, Katajannokanranta 21, Kilpolantie 16, Kurkisuontie 12, Muusantori 5, Myrttitie 2, Pallaksentie 4, Pekankatu 5, Rekipellontie 15, Rälssintie 16.
- Kasperinkuja 13: Students of Snellman-korkeakoulu are given priority when selecting tenants. The priority is due to a joint land reservation together with the Ahtola Foundation.
- Kilonrinne 10: The following priority rules are followed for this property: 1. members of the SSBS founding organisation, 2. Swedish-speaking members of Hoas’s Swedish and bilingual founding organisations, 3. members of Hoas’s other founding organisations.
- Opastinsilta 2: 21 housing spaces have been reserved for Farmasiakunta Ry.
- Apartments in Otaniemi (Jämeräntaival 9-11, Servin Maijan tie 3, Servinkuja 5-6): Apartments will only be rented to students of the Aalto University. In family apartments, it is enough for one tenant to study there.
- Paraistentie 18: Medical students are prioritised in tenant selection.
- Pitäjänmäentie 13: Music students are prioritised in tenant selection. Family apartments are rented primarily to families with children. There are sound-proofed apartments in stairwell C.
- Talonpojantie 10: The following priority rules are followed for this property:
1. Students that meet the tenant criteria set by the Foundation, Stiftelse Latokartano – Vicus Agriculturae Studiosorumin (Latokartanosäätiö) and Housing for forestry students (Silvica).
2. Helsinki University students of the faculty of agriculture and forestry.
The priority rules are based on the conditions of the land lease contract between Latokartano sport- and house of culture foundation and Hoas. - In the following properties, some apartments are still rented out by the city of Helsinki, because the properties have previously been owned by the city: Hakaniemenranta 12, Kirstinmäki 7, Kylmäojantie 4. As and when the tenants selected by the city terminate their tenancy agreements, the apartments will be rented to students according to Hoas’s normal rules.