Asuntosäätiö
- Tuulikuja 2,
- 02100 Espoo
How to apply for a right-of-occupancy home?
Who can apply for a right-of-occupancy home?
You need a queue number, granted by The Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (Ara), to apply for a right-of-occupancy home. Anyone who has turned 18 and does not own an apartment or have the assets to buy one in the area in which they are looking for an apartment can apply for a right-of-occupancy home. There are no income limits for right-of-occupancy homes, nor asset limits for people over 55.
Instructions for applying for a right-of-occupancy home
- Apply for a queue number from The Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (Ara). The queue number costs 9,20 euros. Please check Ara’s website for instructions and possible changes regarding the queue number and applying for the queue number.
- Browse our apartments in our online service and complete an application. To improve your chances of getting an apartment, include more than one apartment in your application. You can apply for an apartment in a maximum of ten locations. You can edit your application later.
The selection of right-of-occupancy residents has been transferred to two-year fixed queue numbers and Ara’s national waiting list system from 1st of September 2023. Application with queue number from Ara remains in force for two years. - You will receive an offer from us if the right-of-occupancy home you have applied for is or is about to become available. If the number of applicants is very large, we will offer the apartment to those with the lowest queue numbers. The right of occupancy will be granted to the applicant with the lowest queue number.
- Accept the offer preliminarily and visit the apartment. If you want the apartment and have the lowest queue number, we will send you a letter of reservation and a statement on assets for you to complete. We will check the queue number and ensure that you meet the criteria for right of occupancy.
- Sign the right-of-occupancy contract and make the right-of-occupancy payment when you receive the approval for your right of occupancy. The right-of-occupancy payment must be made as a single bulk payment.
Applying for a right-of-occupancy home in a new property
If you apply for a right-of-occupancy home in a new property, you can choose a maximum of five apartments in the same location. The period of application is two weeks, and after the deadline, we will offer the apartment to the applicant with the lowest queue number. Please complete the application carefully, including all the required information and the queue number, before the end of the application period, since we will not consider applications that have been changed after the deadline for applications or that do not include a queue number.
If you do not receive an offer for the home you applied for, you will remain in the queue, in the place determined by your queue number. There may be dozens of applicants for an apartment, and it may take several weeks to process the applications. There will be changes in the queue long after the deadline for applications.
Editing your existing application
Once you have submitted your application for a right-of-occupancy home, you can later go back to the application and edit it. You can edit your previously submitted right-of-occupancy application by adding a queue number and adding or removing apartments.
Changing right-of-occupancy homes
If you want to exchange your current right-of-occupancy home for another one, you will need a new queue number, unless you are exchanging homes with a resident in another right-of-occupancy home. It is best to apply for a new queue number immediately, even if the change is not likely to happen in the near future.
FAQ about right-of-occupancy homes
Who can apply for an right-of-occupancy home? How fast can I get an apartment? Can I renovate my home? These and many other questions are answered on our FAQ.