Maximum limits for housing costs in social assistance changing in 2027 – limits may now also decrease due to change in law
The maximum limits that Kela applies to housing costs when calculating social assistance will change in 2027 in more municipalities than before. This change may affect our customers in different ways depending on the municipality they live in and their family size and housing costs. Kela will keep customers updated on the upcoming changes to make sure they have enough time to check how the change will affect them and prepare before next year.
The maximum limits that Kela applies to acceptable housing costs when calculating social assistance (toimeentulotuki) will change on 1 January 2027. This change is due to an upcoming amendment to the Act on Social Assistance, which introduces a new calculation model for the maximum limits.
The law will change to bring the housing costs taken into account in social assistance better in line with how much housing in different municipalities actually costs. The aim is to ensure that the maximum limits for acceptable housing costs can be adjusted more easily to reflect changes in housing costs across Finland.
“This means that the limits for acceptable housing costs can stay the same, increase or decrease. However, the change will be 5% at most in either direction,” says Marja-Leena Valkonen, Benefits Manager at Kela.
The maximum limits for acceptable housing costs vary based on municipality and family size. For example, the maximum limit will increase in 61 municipalities and decrease in 95 municipalities next year for customers on social assistance who live alone. The maximum limits will stay the same for customers living alone in 136 of all 292 municipalities in mainland Finland. These include Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere and Pori. In addition, there will be no changes in the maximum limits for any family size in municipalities such as Vantaa, Lahti and Jyväskylä.
Amount-wise, the maximum limits for acceptable housing costs may change by a few dozen euros. You can check the new maximum limits on our website at www.kela.fi/social-assistance-housing-costs.
The upcoming legislative amendment does not apply to general housing allowance, housing allowance for pensioners or student housing supplement.
If your housing costs exceed the limit set for your municipality
The upcoming change in the maximum limits for acceptable housing costs will not affect a customer’s social assistance if their housing costs do not exceed the maximum limit that applies in their municipality.
If the customer’s housing costs exceed the limit for acceptable housing costs that applies in their municipality and there are no special grounds to justify higher housing costs, Kela will tell the customer to find more affordable housing within 3 months’ time.
According to the law, the poor health or advanced age of the customer are examples of special grounds that can justify higher housing costs. In addition, for example a non-resident parent needing more space for parent-child visits can also count as special grounds.
If Kela tells a customer to find more affordable housing but the customer does not move to new housing by the specified deadline, Kela will take the customer’s housing costs into account at the maximum amount set for the municipality they live in. Kela can extend the deadline for finding more affordable housing if the customer has actively looked for more affordable housing but there is none available where they live.
This means that customers do not have to move out of their home, but if they do not move, they will have to pay the part of their housing costs that exceeds the maximum limit for their municipality.
Valkonen emphasises that Kela has already checked if special grounds apply for many existing customers who get social assistance from Kela. In those cases, Kela has paid social assistance in line with the maximum limit for housing costs in the customer’s municipality after the deadline if no special grounds have applied.
“Starting from January, Kela will automatically apply the maximum limits for acceptable housing costs for 2027 to the social assistance it pays to these customers,” says Valkonen.