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The short-term rental apartments are affordable and located in different parts of Helsinki. Most of them are two-room apartments, but we also provide studios and larger family apartments. Short-term rental apartments are unfurnished.
Lease agreements for short-term rental apartments vary in length between two and five months and usually expire at the end of the month.
Short-term rentals do not need to comply with Heka's tenant selection criteria, wealth limits or conditions for special housing. We provide approximately 200 short-term rental apartments annually.
Application for a short-term rental apartment
Apply for a short-term rental apartment through the Oikotie website. The apartment advertisement will contain a link to the application. After completing the application, prove your identity with online banking credentials or Mobile ID. Your co-applicant, if you have one, must also prove their identity through authentication and confirm the housing application.
If you cannot use strong authentication, please visit the rental apartment search customer service at Työpajankatu 8. Bring your passport or identity card with you. Your apartment application will not be included in the tenant selection process until after you have confirmed your identity.
Validity period
The application is valid for three months (90 days) after its submission or most recent changes.
There are no application or brokerage charges, and the recipient of an apartment is not charged any rent security deposit or other deposit.
Use the online service
Application for short-term apartment
More detailed instructions for applying for short-term rental housing
Start your search by looking at the vacant apartments on Oikotie (in Finnish)(Link leads to external service). Once you have selected the apartment you want to apply for on Oikotie, leave the information of the apartment you have selected open in the browser or write down the information (address, floor area and rent). You will need the information of the apartment when filling in the application.
We also recommend that you familiarise yourself with the frequently asked questions on this page when your start your search.
Fill in the application for short-term housing(Link leads to external service).(Link leads to external service) You can add apartments you are interested in to the application on the apartment information (haettavan asunnon tiedot) page.
If there are several similar apartments available, only a few exemplary apartments will be open for application. It is advisable to include as large an area as possible in your application, so that we can also target your application to other similar apartments that become vacant, where possible.
In your application, explain why you need short-term housing and prove it by sending the requested attachments when you later respond to the apartment offer you receive.
Please state in the application the exact time period for which you need housing. The time of your housing need must match the rental periods of the apartments you have included in your application.
The application is valid for three months. If you amend your application or submit a new one, it will replace your previous application.
Only private persons can apply for apartments – companies, for example, cannot apply.
Once you have submitted the application, you (and any co-applicant) will receive an e-mail confirming receipt of the application. Please note that you (and any co-applicant) must confirm your application through strong authentication with online banking credentials or Mobile ID before your application will be included in the tenant selection process.
If you (or any co-applicant) are unable to prove your identity through electronic authentication, you can visit the rental apartment search customer service and prove your identity using an official personal identity document (driving licence, passport or personal identity card).
Once you (and any co-applicant) have confirmed your application in the rental apartment search service, please wait for a possible apartment offer.
If you want to add apartments to your application or if your situation or preferences change, you can make around the to your application in the rental apartment search service. Keep in mind that you and any co-applicant will still need to confirm the amended application.
Instructions for editing your application:
- Log into the rental apartment search service(Link leads to external service).
- Select the apartment application that you wish to modify.
- Select ‘Edit application’ (Siirry muokkaamaan hakemusta) at the end of the application summary.
- Review the application details and make the necessary changes.
- Check your details on the summary page and submit the application.
- For the application to be included in the tenant selection process, you need to confirm it through electronic authentication or by logging into the service again. Your co-applicant must also confirm the application.
Whenever you amend your application, its period of validity will be extended by three months. When you add more apartments to your application, the application will be updated and will be valid for another three months from the date of updating the application.
If your short term rental housing application expires, you must submit a new application. You can also withdraw your application in the same service. In this case, your application will cease to be valid immediately.
Please note that only you can modify the details in your application – our housing advisers cannot do so.
If you are selected, you will receive an apartment offer in your e-mail and also an SMS notification. After this, submit proof of your need for short-term housing and its duration. The apartment offer you receive will include instructions for the attachments.
Examples of requested attachments:
- certificate on the schedule of a plumbing renovation
- employment contract or other certificate of the duration of fixed-term employment
- sales contract for an apartment to be finished, specifying the date on which the apartment will become available.
- certificate of a 12-month residence permit or a certificate of registration.
With the apartment offer, you will get the lessor’s contact information so that you can schedule a showing of the apartment and signing of the fixed-term lease agreement. You will have three weekdays to familiarise yourself with the apartment and decide whether you will accept it.
Frequently asked questions
Anyone who needs to live away from their home for a few months due to, for example, a plumbing renovation, work assignment or practical training can apply for short-term rental housing.
Short-term housing is rented on the condition that the applicant has a permanent residence that they can move or return to after the short-term rental period expires.
Applicants for short-term housing are required to have regular income and a good credit record. The applicant must hold a residence permit for at least 12 months or a certificate of registration.
Short-term housing is not rented out to Heka tenants as temporary housing. If Heka tenants cannot to live in their own homes during a major renovation, Heka will acquire temporary housing for them.
We select the tenants based on the applications submitted. We offer each individual applicant only one apartment at a time.
Priority is given to applicants whose housing need covers as much of the apartment’s rental period as is possible.
Short-term apartments are owned by Helsingin kaupungin asunnot Oy (Heka(Link leads to external service)). Short-term rental apartments are vacant because they are reserved as temporary housing for Heka tenants. Temporary housing is offered to Heka tenants when their own apartment is undergoing a plumbing renovation or other extensive renovation. When these apartments reserved for Heka tenants are temporarily vacant, they can be rented out to others with short-term rental needs.
No, you cannot. Short term rental housing can only be applied for through strong authentication using online banking credentials or Mobile ID.
If there is still several months before your housing need will begin, short-term housing for that period may not yet be open for application. Our housing supply will only become clear closer to the rental period.
Housing advertisements indicate the vacancy period of each apartment. If you find suitable apartments in Oikotie that are available during your required time period, you should submit an application.
We will notify you of the apartment offer by e-mail and SMS. A person selected as a tenant will first receive a conditional apartment offer and be asked to submit attachments, such as a certificate of short-term housing need.
If we do not receive the attachments within the requested time, the offer will expire and the apartment will be offered to the next applicant.
Once we have received and checked the requested documentation, we will send you a confirmed apartment offer. After this, you can go view the apartment and sign a lease agreement by first contacting Heka’s local company.
You will not receive an apartment offer. We offer short-term housing only to applicants with no payment default entries in their credit record.
