Housing allowance has been changed in many ways both this year and last year, which forced about 19% of the allowance receivers to look for a cheaper home, according to a survey commissioned by OP Financial Group.
A fifth of tenants receiving housing allowance are looking for or have already moved to a less expensive home, said OP in a press release on Monday referring to the survey.
The Social Insurance Institution-Kela made changes to the housing allowance, reducing the amount of housing allowance for some people and stopping it altogether for some.
Following the changes, housing allowance is no longer available for owner-occupied homes, and as of this autumn, students are no longer paid general housing allowance but instead receive housing supplement as part of student financial aid.
OP Financial Group in the survey asked how all the changes have affected people in Finland receiving housing allowance.
Of the respondents who rent a home, 43 per cent said they currently receive housing allowance.
Of them, 19 per cent had moved or were planning to move to a less expensive home because of the changes to housing allowance.
“Op Koti real estate agents noticed in the summer that people were preparing for the allowance changes expected in August by moving to a less expensive home. In university cities, many tenants have sought a smaller home in good condition rather than moving further away from services,” said Lasse Palovaara, Head of OP Koti.
However, of the tenants who responded to the survey, 59 per cent said the changes to the allowance did not affect their living arrangements and did not force them to change home.
The online survey conducted by survey organisation Taloustutkimus for OP in September 2025 was answered by a total of 1,042 people in Finland over the age of 18.
The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for the entire respondent group.
- Housing benefit
- Cut
- Cheaper
- Home
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
