HOAS - Homes for students
A HOAS home will create a good background for your studies and life in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Every year, HOAS provides a safe housing alternative to thousands of students.
For exchange students and trainees, HOAS provides furnished flats. This service is tailor-made to ensure that there are furnished apartments available for exchange students who stay in the region only for one term or one academic year. In the Helsinki region, the rental level is high and it is difficult to find affordable furnished flats for this kind of short term needs.
The amount of the HOAS apartments for exchange students in Helsinki area is not sufficient for all exchange students. There are around 850 HOAS apartments reserved for exchange students in the region. Around 60 % of the exchange students of the region live in these apartments. Especially in the beginning of the autumn term, in September, HOAS cannot offer housing for all applicants. If you receive a housing offer, we strongly advice you to take it - You will get only one housing offer from HOAS! Please notice that if you do get an apartment from HOAS you cannot move into it before mid-August (for the autumn semester) so plan your arrival accordingly (it is strongly recommended to follow the suggested arrival days).
For degree seeking students (studying at Laurea for a full dgree) HOAS offers unfurnished housing.
Applying
It is very important to use the correct form when applying for housing from HOAS, and to fill in the form correctly, as soon as possible after being accepted to study at Laurea.
Most of the housing offers are sent out by the beginning of August for the autumn semester and by the beginning of December for the spring semester. If you have not received a housing offer by then, be sure to apply also via other channels.
What does my HOAS rent include?
Furnished rooms (only for exchange students and trainees) in shared apartments cost about €400/month, studios around €550/month and shared studios around €300/month per person. The rent includes basic furniture, broadband internet connection, electricity and water. Pillows, blankets and dishes are not included.
The rent is higher in furnished apartments than in HOAS apartments that are not furnished (meant for degree students). The reason for this is that furnished flats stay empty during the summer. The cost of this is divided in the rent of the academic year. In this manner HOAS is able to provide and guarantee furnished housing for short-term studies. In return for the higher rent, students get furnished flats and a separate service at HOAS.
Rent for unfurnished rooms (only for degree students) in shared apartments is approx. €200–320/month, studios approx. €330–520/month and family apartments approx. €450–900/month. Kindly note that there is a limited number of the cheapest rooms. The rent includes broadband internet connection, electricity and water.
For more information on locations, rents, forms of housing etc., please see the HOAS web pages.
My HOAS apartment is not located near my campus - what to do?
HOAS apartments are located around the city. Your possibilities to receive an apartment from HOAS are improved if you are willing to live outside the centre and campus areas. In Finland it is very common for the students to live further away from campus or higher education institution. Remember that it is easy to travel around Helsinki region: the public transport in Helsinki is ranked among the best in Europe! You can check the transport connections from your apartment to the centre or campus areas at Helsinki Region Transport Journey Planner http://www.reittiopas.fi/en/ .
HOAS does their best to offer you a place to stay according to your wishes and with a reasonable distance from your campus. The later you apply, the less likely we can honor your preferences or offer housing for you. If you don't get the kind of housing or location you wished for, it means that your first choice was no longer available. You will always get the best available housing option!
HOAS is a safe and easy option and enables you to guarantee your accommodation before arrival to Finland.