To start living on our own, moving away from the childhood home, is often part of the process of becoming independent. It is important to be aware that besides there being many practical matters there are also many different kinds of thoughts and feelings connected to moving out, and into one’s own home. It smells and feels different in one’s new home and sometimes there can be strong feelings of loneliness. This first new home can be experienced alone or for example, with a flatmate / friend. Another form of living is to rent a room from a shared flat.
What do I need to do, if I want to move out and live on my own? How do I get home insurance? Am I forced to live alone?
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Sources of knowledge
Each municipality has its own municipality-owned subsidised apartments for rent. In addition to these, there are several web-based companies and organisations that share apartment availability from the private sector, from enterprises and from different kinds of communities across Finland, in a very comprehensive manner.
https://www.vuokraovi.com/ (Available in English).
https://kas.fi/ (Available only in Finnish).
https://lumo.fi/ (Available in English)
https://asunnot.oikotie.fi/vuokrattavat-asunnot (Available only in Finnish).
https://www.realiaasuntovuokraus.fi/ (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Oulu) (Available in English).
SOA – The Finnish Associations of Student Housing Organisations offers information about living in student apartments and how to apply for student apartments from different parts of Finland.
NAL – The Youth Housing Association offers two manuals regarding the period in life when independent living begins, as a young person decides to move out from his/ her / their parents’ or when they have already done so. Both the ABCs of Housing and Home of Your Own – A young person’s guide to independence contain a wide variety of knowledge, tips and items for reflection. Besides English and Finnish, the latter is also available in Russian and Arabic.
The Youth Shelters of the Finnish Red Cross offer discussion support according to the principle that “there is a solution for every problem.” The service is reachable online and physically in five cities, where also staying overnight is possible, when needed. Information about Youth Shelters is available in six languages (links to the language versions): Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian, Somali and Arabic.
Moreover, Infofinland.fi offers a database about Living in Finland in twelve different languages, one of which is English. Updating the database is taken care of by the so-called cooperative municipalities which are also providing funding in addition to the state’s. In spring 2021, the database is being managed by the Helsinki metropolitan area, Turku, Tampere, Kokkola, Oulu and several other municipalities from the region of Ylivieska and Raahe-Kalajoki. The webpage contains a lot of useful information, regardless of whether one is currently living in those specific cities and regions. The data is presented with all ages in mind, not specially for young people, but it contains for example information about student housing.