Housing

At the Ministry of the Environment, the Built Environment Department is responsible for matters related to housing. So far, subsidies, support payments and guarantees related to housing and construction have been granted by the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (Ara), which also steers and supervises the use of Ara’s state-subsidised housing stock. 

The operations of the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (Ara) as an independent agency will end and its tasks will move to the Centre for State-Subsidised Housing Construction under the Ministry of the Environment. The new Centre will be responsible for granting subsidies for housing construction and other statutory tasks of the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland Ara. The Centre for State-Subsidised Housing Construction will start operating under the Ministry of the Environment on 1 March 2025.

  • Rented housing legislation »

    In Finland, the state supports the production of affordable and social rented housing by paying interest subsidies on loans taken out for this purpose and issuing a state guarantee for them.

  • Cooperation Programme to Halve Homelessness »

    Finland has been implementing modern homelessness policies ever since the 1980s. In the current programme, the key objective is to strengthen the homelessness work of local authorities through the use and development of social services.

  • Right-of-occupancy housing »

    Right-of-occupancy housing is a mix between rental and owner-occupied housing. The Right-of-Occupancy Housing Act underwent a reform in spring 2021, and the new Act entered into force on 1 January 2022.