Apply for a Heka rental apartment

Every year, we allocate between 3,000 and 4,000 apartments, and there are continuously about 10,000 active applications in our system. Unfortunately, there are not enough apartments for all applicants due to high demand. We aim to offer apartments to the applicants with the greatest need for an apartment.

Receiving an apartment may take time, so we ask you to please be patient. Contacting our advisers repeatedly will not speed up your access to housing. It is impossible to estimate the waiting time because it depends on the number of apartments becoming available, on the type of apartment, the location and the applicant’s preferences.

You can find the apartment brokerage statistics for 2023 here (pdf in Finnish).    You can find the the monthly tenant selection statistics here (pdf in Finnish).

Areas with the most housing vacancies in 2019–2021:

1. Jätkäsaari 720 vacancies (1,182 apartments in the area)
2. Länsi-Herttoniemi 503 vacancies (2,007 apartments in the area)
3. Maunula 463 vacancies (2,293 apartments in the area)
4. Kontula 382 vacancies (1,991 apartments in the area)
5. Jakomäki 359 vacancies (1,880 apartments in the area)
6. Laajasalo 354 vacancies (1,284 apartments in the area)

Areas with the least housing vacancies in 2019–2021:

1. Talinranta 0 vacancies (182 apartments in the area)
2. Lauttasaari 5 vacancies (43 apartments in the area)
3. Taka-Töölö 5 vacancies (42 apartments in the area)
4. Heikinlaakso 7 vacancies (46 apartments in the area)
5. Hakuninmaa 7 vacancies (77 apartments in the area)
6. Itä-Pakila 8 vacancies (51 apartments in the area)

See how many apartments became vacant in each area in 2019–2021 (pdf in Finnish).

Generally, single-person households can be offered 1–2 room apartments, 2–3 room apartments for two people, 2–4 room apartments for three people, 3–5 room apartments for four people and 4–6 room apartments for five people. Unborn children are included in the size of the household.

We can make exceptions to the above if the applicants have a clear need for a larger apartment and it is possible to assign them one. 

The rents of Heka’s rental apartments vary depending on the location and size of the apartment. The average rents of apartments are roughly split as follows:

• studio apartments average €480 with a maximum of €974
• two-bedroom apartments average €700 with a maximum of €1205
• three-bedroom apartments average €950 with a maximum of €1530
• four-bedroom homes average €1200 with a maximum of €2002
• five-bedroom homes average €1,350 with a maximum of €1,830

For example, a studio in Malminkartano can be €510; a two-bedroom apartment in East Pasila, €795; a three-bedroom apartment in Aurinkolahti, €1,100; a four-bedroom home in Lassila, €1,300; a five-bedroom home in North Pasila, €1,500.

Tenants are selected based on their need for housing and the search criteria they indicate in the application, not based on queueing. The tenant selection principles are based on the law. The selection criteria include need for housing, wealth and income. Priority is given to the homeless and other applicants of limited means and low income who have the most urgent need for housing. We also take diverse tenant structure in the tenement building and the social balance of the residential area into account when selecting tenants.

Find out more about the selection criteria .

It is impossible to estimate the wait for an apartment because it depends on the number of apartments becoming available, on the type of apartment, the location and the applicant’s preferences. Apartment allocation is not based on queuing; we choose the tenants based on their need for housing and the search criteria they specified in the application.

Please note that when making tenant selections, we are not able to take into account the applicants’ previous lease agreements or other commitments. For this reason, you may have to pay rent for two apartments for some time. 

The length of time that the application has been in the system has no significance in regard to receiving apartment offers. Due to the large number of applications we receive, we cannot promise housing to all applicants.

No, they will not. Due to the large number of applicants, we cannot, unfortunately, offer housing to everyone who wants it. We find tenants for approximately 3,000–3,500 Heka’s rental apartments each year, and our system has roughly 15,000 active applications at any given time.

You can review the number of applicants and the number of apartments provided in our monthly statistics (pdf in Finnish).

Yes, they do. When an apartment becomes available, our system picks the applications whose search criteria match the apartment’s location, size, rent and equipment level. Your application will be considered when processing apartments that become vacant and match your search criteria (e.g. in terms of the area, balcony, lift). If you set ‘all areas’ as your area preference, you can be offered apartments in any part of Helsinki. Please do not include in your application any areas to which you are not willing to move. The maximum rent and your requirements regarding having a lift or a balcony listed on your application will limit the number of apartments offered to you, because not all apartments have these features.

Once you have submitted your application, you must confirm it through authentication, that is, by proving your identity. Your application will not be included in the tenant selection process until after you have confirmed your identity. By confirming your application through authentication, you confirm that you are the person that has submitted the application.

If the application has a co-applicant, the co-applicant must also confirm the application through authentication. The co-applicant will receive a link in their e-mail, which will allow them to check the application details for their part and confirm the application. You can check via the Rental apartment search service(Link leads to external service) whether all your co-applicants aged over 18 have done the authentication and confirmed the application.

Authentication means proving your identity. If you do not have online banking credentials or Mobile ID, you can visit the Rental apartment search customer service at Työpajankatu 8 and prove your identity with an official personal identity document (passport or personal ID card).

Please note that a co-applicant aged over 18 years must also prove their identity before your application can be included in the tenant selection process.

No, you cannot. Your application will not be included in the tenant selection process until you have confirmed it through electronic authentication using online banking credentials or Mobile ID, or proved your identity by visiting the rental apartment customer service with an official personal identity document (passport or personal ID card).

We recommend adding a personal e-mail address to your application because it makes your housing search easier. You and any co-applicant will receive, among others, an application summary and a link for confirming your application by e-mail. The e-mail address must be personal because there can only be one e-mail address per person in the application system.

A personal e-mail address is extremely important in the case that you or a co-applicant have proven your identity in person by visiting the rental apartment search customer service. The e-mail address will also be used as your username in the Rental apartment search service(Link leads to external service) .

If it is not possible for you to use electronic services and you cannot fill in a housing application or prove your identity through strong authentication with online banking credentials or Mobile ID, please contact  the Rental apartment search customer service .

If you cannot visit our customer service in Työpajankatu 8, please contact us by phone or email.

We cannot give status updates on application processing. Our housing advisers do not process applications or select tenants. When an apartment becomes vacant, valid applications with criteria matching that specific apartment are considered in the tenant selection. Applicants will only be contacted to offer an apartment.

No, you cannot. Our customer service cannot help you get an apartment faster. Our customer service will provide you with guidance on filling in and editing your application.

Declining an apartment offer will not lead to a waiting period or other penalty. However, the applicant may not receive another apartment offer, and declining an offer will not make it easier to get another apartment offer. It is therefore important to select areas to which you actually want to move and search criteria that are truly important to you.

If you decline an apartment offer, your application will also be cancelled. If you want to continue applying for an apartment, you must submit a new application.

We check the credit record of all applicants who are of age from Suomen Asiakastieto Oy’s credit record register before offering them an apartment. You can check your own credit record once a year free of charge from Suomen Asiakastieto Oy(Link leads to external service) or Dun & Bradstreet(Link leads to external service) (in Finnish).

Rental debt and other housing-related debts may mean you will not be offered an apartment.  If you have debt to Heka, you cannot be offered an apartment before you have paid it off. Other housing-related debt does not exclude you from tenant selection as long as you have a payment plan made with a reliable partner.

Other credit record default entries are not considered an obstacle in receiving housing.

For payment of rental debt and other housing-related debts, provide a lessor’s certificate or a payment plan made with a reliable party (such as Social Services’ debt counselling or the execution authority) and receipts of instalments that you have already paid when submitting an application. Submitting a payment plan or clearing rental debt does not guarantee you will receive an apartment. If you have debt to Heka, you cannot be offered an apartment before paying the debt.

If the applicant has had housing-related debt, a fixed-term lease agreement will be made. When the lease expires, the lessor (Asuntohankinta or Heka) will reassess the situation.