Kela pays the housing allowance for pensioners
on the 4th day of the month
Housing allowance for pensioners
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Can I get housing allowance for pensioners?
You can get housing allowance for pensioners (eläkkeensaajan asumistuki) if you are living permanently in Finland, you have a low income and you receive a pension which entitles you to the housing allowance for pensioners.
You can apply for the allowance if you live
- alone
- together with your partner (your partner does not need to be paid a pension)
- together with many people (for example multiple roommates) and all of them are paid a pension that gives them the right to housing allowance for pensioners.
If you cannot get housing allowance for pensioners, you may be entitled to general housing allowance (yleinen asumistuki).
Pensions that qualify you for housing allowance for pensioners include
- old-age pension (vanhuuseläke) and early old-age pension (varhennettu vanhuuseläke) paid by Kela
- rehabilitation subsidy (kuntoutustuki) and disability pension (työkyvyttömyyseläke) paid by Kela
- guarantee pension (takuueläke) paid by Kela
- spouse’s pension (leskeneläke) paid by Kela
- old-age pension and early old-age pension paid by an authorised pension provider
- full rehabilitation subsidy, full disability pension and years-of-service pension (työuraeläke) paid by an authorised pension provider
- spouse’s pension paid by an authorised pension provider
- spouse’s pension or assistance pension (huoltoeläke) paid on the basis of statutory worker’s compensation insurance, statutory motor liability insurance or the Military Injuries Act.
The following pensions give you the right to housing allowance for pensioners if they have been granted based on full incapacity for work and they are paid continuously (over an uninterrupted period of at least 6 months):
- occupational accident pension (tapaturmaeläke), life annuity (elinkorko) and rehabilitation allowance paid on the basis of statutory worker’s compensation insurance. You have to be paid rehabilitation allowance for one year after the accident before it can qualify you for housing allowance for pensioners.
- disability pension and compensation for loss of earnings (ansionmenetyksen korvaus) that are paid on the basis of various laws that apply to motor liability insurance. You have to be paid compensation for loss of earnings for one year after the traffic accident before it can qualify you for housing allowance for pensioners.
In addition, you can get housing allowance for pensioners based on benefits you get from other countries if they correspond to the pensions and compensations listed above.
Pensions that do not qualify you for the allowance
- partial disability pension (osatyökyvyttömyyseläke)
- partial early old-age pension (osittainen varhennettu vanhuuseläke).
How much can I get?
The amount of allowance you can get is 85% of the housing costs Kela takes into account when calculating the allowance (accepted housing costs).
Read more about the types of housing costs you can get the allowance for and how high they can be
Kela will deduct the following from your accepted housing costs:
- a basic deductible (perusomavastuu) that is EUR 681.39 per year (EUR 56.78 per month). This deductible is the same for everyone.
- an additional deductible (lisäomavastuu) if your income exceeds the annual income limit. The additional deductible is 43.5% of the part of your income that exceeds the income limit. Read more about income limits and how income and assets affect the housing allowance for pensioners. Read more about income limits and how income and assets affect the housing allowance for pensioners.
In the case of partners, Kela will calculate a joint housing allowance based on the income of both partners and the housing costs of their shared home. Kela will pay the allowance to the partner who qualifies for the housing allowance for pensioners. If both partners qualify for the housing allowance, Kela will split the allowance in two and pay one half to one partner and the other half to the other partner.
The smallest amount of allowance you can get is
- EUR 7.46 per month if you live alone
- EUR 3.73 per month per person for partners who Kela pays a joint housing allowance.
You do not have to pay taxes on the housing allowance for pensioners.
Kela uses the following formula to calculate the housing allowance for pensioners:
0.85 x (accepted housing costs – (basic deductible + additional deductible))
Estimate how much housing allowance you can get
Payment date
If banks are closed on the scheduled payment date, the allowance is paid on the nearest preceding banking day.
How income and assets affect the allowance
Income and assets affect the housing allowance for pensioners. If you have a partner, their income and assets will also affect your housing allowance.
If you live alone, almost all of your income will affect how much housing allowance for pensioners you can get.
If you have a partner, almost all of their income will also affect the housing allowance.
Kela uses gross income when calculating how much housing allowance for pensioners you can get.
If your income exceeds the annual income limit Kela applies here, Kela will deduct both the basic deductible (perusomavastuu) and an additional deductible (lisäomavastuu) from your housing costs.
The additional deductible is 43.5% of the part of your income that exceeds the annual income limit.
If you have a partner, their income will also affect your housing allowance. Your income and your partner’s income will be added together, and your annual income limit will be calculated based on if both of you have the right to housing allowance for pensioners or just one of you.
In 2025, you have to pay an additional deductible for income that exceeds the following limits:
- a person who lives alone EUR 10,280 per year
- a person with a partner if their partner does not qualify for the housing allowance EUR 14,746 per year
- a person with a partner if their partner qualifies for the housing allowance EUR 16,783 per year.
Here partner means a person you are married to, a person you are in a relationship with and who lives with you, and a partner in a registered partnership.
Types of income that affect the amount of your housing allowance for pensioners include:
- pensions (including pensions paid from abroad)
- wages and salaries
- income from self-employment
- unemployment allowances (työttömyyspäiväraha)
- income from assets (for example interest on deposits, rental income and income from forests or forestry).
Kela deducts interest you have to pay on your debt or loans from the income. However, this does not apply to interest you have to pay on consumer credit products (kulutusluotto) or loans on a house or apartment that you live in (owner-occupied home) or which belongs to the estate of a deceased person. (Kela takes the interest you have to pay on a loan for an owner-occupied home into account separately in your housing costs.)
Interest and dividend income affect the housing allowance for pensioners if they add up to a total of more than EUR 60 per year. When Kela calculates interest income, Kela starts by deducting EUR 2,000 from your deposits. This is because deposits up to EUR 2,000 are considered your disposable funds (käyttövarat). Your partner can also have up to EUR 2,000 in deposits. The interest on the remaining deposits is included in the income when Kela does the calculation.
Income that does not affect the housing allowance for pensioners includes the following:
- care allowances and disability allowances
- income from a share in the estate of a deceased person
- informal caregiver’s fee (with the exception of a substitute caregiver’s fee).
If you have assets, they will affect how much housing allowance for pensioners you can get. If you have a partner, their assets will also affect the housing allowance.
Kela calculates an income based on the assets and then takes this income into account when calculating how much housing allowance you can get. First, Kela deducts any outstanding debts from the assets. After that, 15% of the value of assets exceeding a certain asset limit is added to the income Kela takes into account when calculating the housing allowance.
These asset limits are:
- EUR 15,000 if you live alone
- EUR 24,000 for you and your partner together if you have a partner.
Assets that affect the housing allowance include the following:
- real estate
- forests
- deposits and savings
- publicly listed stocks
- shares in mutual funds
- insurance savings.
If you have deposits or savings, Kela will take any amount that exceeds EUR 2,000 into account as your assets. This is because deposits or savings up to EUR 2,000 are considered your disposable funds (käyttövarat). Similarly, your partner can have up to EUR 2,000 in deposits or savings as their disposable funds.
The housing allowance for pensioners is not affected by, for example,
- the single-family home (omakotitalo) where you live
- a share in the undistributed estate of a deceased person
- a share or shares in a housing company.
Example of how income and assets affect housing allowance
Taina lives alone. Her assets are worth EUR 22,000. Taina does not have any debt that could be deducted from her assets. The asset limit is EUR 15,000 for a person who lives alone.
Taina’s assets exceed this limit by EUR 7,000 (EUR 22,000 – 15,000).
Kela calculates that the amount of assets that exceeds the limit generates 15% in annual income for Taina: 15% × EUR 7,000 = EUR 1,050 per year.
The annual income is then divided by 12 to get monthly income for 12 months: EUR 1,050 / 12 = EUR 87.50 per month.
Kela takes this monthly income (EUR 87.50 per month) into account in addition to other income that affects Taina’s housing allowance.
Aino gets a total of EUR 900 per month in pensions. She lives in a single-family home (omakotitalo) that was modernised in 1980. Her home is 100 square metres with modern conveniences, and it is located in Mikkeli. Her maximum housing costs are calculated according to the location of her home (the category 'other municipalities') and heating costs category 2. Aino has no debt and no other assets besides her home.
Kela calculates Aino’s housing allowance based on the upkeep costs of a 70-square-meter single-family home instead of her actual upkeep costs. This is because Aino lives alone, and 70 square metres is considered a reasonably sized home for a person who lives alone.
Heating
70 sqm x EUR 2.20 = EUR 154.00 per month
Water
EUR 35.22 per month
Maintenance (Aino’s home has undergone modernisation after 1974)
EUR 47.84 per month
In total, Kela takes EUR 237.06 per month into account as Aino’s housing costs.
The income limit for persons who live alone is EUR 856.67 per month.
Aino’s income exceeds this limit by EUR 43.33 (EUR 900 – 856.67). This means that she has to pay an additional deductible (lisäomavastuu) equal to 43.5% of the amount that exceeds the limit. That is EUR 18.85 per month (0.435 x EUR 43.33).
The basic deductible (perusomavastuu) everyone has to pay is EUR 56.78 per month. Aino has to pay both the basic deductible and the additional deductible. This means that Aino has to pay EUR 75.63 per month in deductibles (EUR 56.78 + 18.85).
Kela pays Aino 85% of the accepted housing costs that exceed the amount of both deductibles as her housing allowance for pensioners.
Kela pays Aino the following amount as her allowance: 0.85 x (EUR 237.06 – (EUR 56.78 + 18.85 )) = EUR 137.22 per month.
How to apply
You can apply for housing allowance for pensioners either on a form or in the OmaKela e-service. OmaKela is currently only available in Finnish and Swedish. Kela’s forms are also available in English.
Apply in OmaKela
- Apply for the housing allowance for pensioners in the OmaKela e-service. Please note that OmaKela is available in Finnish and Swedish only.
- Take photographs of the supporting documents and send them in OmaKela. Supporting documents needed for the application.
- Have the housing allowance for pensioners adjusted if your circumstances change.
- Visit the OmaKela e-service to see if your application has been decided, how much you will get and when your benefits will be paid. You can also see possible reminders concerning, for instance, any documents missing from your application. You will also get a decision by post if you have not given up paper mail.
Let us know if your income, housing costs or other circumstances change. This way we can make sure that we pay you the right amount in benefits and you will not have to pay anything back.
Apply on a form
- Fill in and print out the form Application - Housing allowance for pensioners AE 1e (pdf).
- Enclose additional documents in support of the application as necessary. The application form includes information on which supporting documents you need.
- Send the application and any supporting documents by mail. The address is Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
- Visit OmaKela to see if your application has been decided, how much you will get and when your benefit will be paid. The decision notice will also be sent to your home address unless you have opted out of paper mail.
The decision notice is only in Finnish or Swedish. If you need help with something, you can call one of our English language customer service numbers 020 634 2650.
How to apply for housing allowance for pensioners on behalf of another person
In the OmaKela e-service, you can also apply for housing allowance for pensioners on behalf of another person. Log in to OmaKela using your online banking credentials or mobile ID. Select Asioi toisen henkilön puolesta (Act on behalf of another person). In OmaKela, you can check when the allowance will be paid and how much it will be. You can also send messages and supporting documents on behalf of the person you are representing.
An authorisation is always needed when acting on behalf of another person.
If you cannot use OmaKela, the person you are representing can issue a power of attorney authorising you to manage their affairs by phone, by post or at a service point. They can also issue a verbal authorisation, but that will be valid for one-time use only. If you are the one mainly responsible for managing the applicant’s affairs and have the right to speak for them (“puhevalta”), you do not need a separate authorisation to act on their behalf.
Read more about acting on behalf of another person.
A death estate cannot apply for housing allowance for pensioners.
Things to remember when you apply for housing allowance for pensioners
You can apply for housing allowance for pensioners for a retroactive period of up to 6 months dating back from the day you submit your application. For example, if you apply for housing allowance on 30 July, Kela can backdate the allowance and grant it to you starting from 1 January.
Here are some examples of supporting documents you may need for your application:
- your rental agreement, if Kela does not receive it directly from the landlord (See the list of landlords that send rental agreements to Kela electronically.)
- If you apply for a review of your housing allowance, you do not need to send a copy of your rental agreement to Kela again if the terms of the agreement have not changed.
- a notification of an increase in your rent, a maintenance charge bill or other proof showing an itemisation of how much you pay in rent or maintenance charge and in other charges
- information on debts and interest on debts.
You will also need to attach a statement where you tell us how much income and assets you and your partner have in the following situations:
- You are applying for housing allowance for the first time or you have deposits.
- Submit documentation on all your accounts and deposits, showing your account balance and interest.
- You get a pension from a country that is not Finland.
- Submit a copy of the decision letter where you were awarded the pension, as well as a notice of payment or a certificate from the payer.
Kela gets information on wages and salaries from the national Incomes Register. We use that information when processing the application. We may ask for more information if we need it.
Landlords that send rental agreements to Kela electronically
Some landlords send information on rental agreements directly to Kela. If we get information on your rental agreement from your landlord this way, you do not need to send us a copy of your rental agreement or proof of how much rent you pay.
Send a copy of your rental agreement as a supporting document with your application if
- your landlord is not on the list and you are applying for housing allowance for the first time for a house or apartment you live in
- you are renting your apartment from a private landlord.
If you apply for a review of your housing allowance, you do not need to send a copy of your rental agreement to Kela again if the terms of the agreement have not changed.