Finding and Moving into Student Housing in Uusimaa
Moikka, I’m Owein, a first year Collaborative and Industrial Design (CoID) student in the school of Art, Design and Architecture here at Aalto. I have just graduated the Bachelor of Design at Aalto last summer!
Looking back three and a half years ago, I remember how daunting it was to move to a new country, new people, university, customs… everything really. In this blog post I want to talk about how to find and get student housing in Finland.
My student housing journey takes us to the second year of the Bachelor of Design, in the first year I had other arrangements, but I really wanted to live in our Otaniemi campus and have the ‘full student campus life experience’. So, in the second year I applied and received student housing on campus. So, you may ask, how do I do this? Here are five tips/FAQs to get you your (maybe first ever) home!
1) Which company provides student housing?
There are two main providers of student housing for Aalto Students. AYY DOMO (Aalto University Student Union) and HOAS (Housing Federation for Students in Helsinki), you can see their offerings here: domo.ayy.fi & hoas.fi
2) Apply as soon as possible!
As soon as you accept your acceptance letter, apply for student housing. Usually there are priority points for international students coming to Finland. However, there are queues and the earlier you apply the best chance you have of getting an apartment offer. Usually, you can apply to student housing with your acceptance letter, so as soon as you have it, upload it to the housing system and apply. This will give you the best chance of getting an offer.
(Note: Private Housing is very expensive in the Helsinki region, so if you don’t apply quickly enough be prepared to pay high rates! Uusually 2-4 times more than Student Housing)
3) Select apartments you 100% will accept and take the first offer!
When choosing your apartments options, choose as many as you can, and most importantly choose apartments you 100% will accept with no doubts. Apartments in Otaniemi for example are in high demand, so make sure to check out areas near Otaniemi, such as Tapiola, Leppaväärä and Matinkylä. My recommendation is to choose apartments along the metro line or the new Jokeri light rail system, you can view the public transport options here HSL.fi/en.
4. What apartment type do I choose?
Student apartments as mentioned are in high demand, studio apartments can have a waiting list of over a year, so make sure to choose shared housing options too, such as the popular apartment buildings: ) AYY Jämerantaival 1 (JMT1), AYY Jämerantaival 6 (JMT6) or HOAS Matinniitynkuja 4.
As a rule of thumb (not applying to every building) with HOAS you will share with less people, around 1-3, but will share all utilities (bathroom and kitchen). However, with AYY housing, you usually share with more people (3-10), but have your own private bathroom, you can see this in the floorplans.
Floorplan help / Pohjapiirrosapu!
Olohuone – Living room
Makuuhuone – Bedroom
Keittiö – Kitchen
Varasto (VAR) – Storage room
Kylpyhuone (KPH) – Bathroom
Pesuhuone (PH) – Washing room
Parveke (PVK) – Balcony
Terassi – Terrace
Hissi – Lift / Elevator
Some even come with:
Sauna (S) – Sauna
5. APARTMENTS ARE EMPTY / How do I furnish the apartment?
This is something which may catch people off guard, when you enter your new room, it will be complete empty (unless states or if the room is for exchange students).
Typical shops such as IKEA or JYSK are in the Helsinki region, and offer quick delivery to campus, so if an option it’s a good way to quickly furnish. I scheduled the delivery in advance for my bed (from IKEA) on the same day I moved to my new apartment.
However, one of the best ways to furnish is via the Otaniemi buy/sell chat on Telegram (your tutor should send you the link!) This is a secondhand group chat where people sell their items. This is an affordable and quick way to furnish your apartment, I highly recommend. In August and September, the chat is most active with around 150-400 posts a day! Get “dibsing!” (reserving). Tori.fi (Finnish ebay equivalent) is also a good option however can be a lot slower than the buy/sell chats. There is also a “giving away free stuff” chat too on telegram, sometimes there are some gems on there!
I hope this information and tips will help you move smoothly into your new home! The biggest takeaway from this is that if you want student housing, you need to apply as soon as you can 😊
Happy moving and welcome to Finland!
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