Information package: Housing benefits
Kela pays housing benefits to many low-income households. The following is a brief overview of the current state and recent developments in housing benefits. At the end, you will find links to more material on this topic from Kela, including statistics and studies on housing benefits.
More than 400,000 households received general housing allowance at the end of 2023
Kela paid a total of 2,379 million euros in housing benefits in 2023. This was 1.2% more in real terms than in the previous year. In 2023, the total expenditure on general housing allowance came to 1,684 million euros. 679 million euros was spent on housing allowance for pensioners.
A total of 404,662 households received general housing allowance at the end of 2023. The number of recipient households grew by 5.9%, or about 22,400, compared with the end of 2022. The number of employed households grew by 12%. The previous time that the number of recipients exceeded 400,000 was during the pandemic, in 2020.
In December 2023, a total of 641,712 persons were living in households that received general housing allowance payments. This was the equivalent of 14.9% of the population under the age of 65.
Students make up more than a third of all general housing allowance recipients
At the end of 2023, student households accounted for 41% and unemployed households for 31% of all general housing allowance recipients. The number of households that were not student households came to a total of 236,922.
Out of the households receiving general housing allowance, 71% were single-person households, 22% families with children, 6% couples and 2% other types of household. Ninety-five percent of the households were living in rented housing.
For most, the general housing allowance is a temporary form of assistance
The mean duration of new housing allowance periods beginning in 2013–2016 was about 20 months.
The majority of the recipients are young people, who move off the allowance more quickly than other recipient groups. Households consisting of one adult and one or several children generally need general housing allowance for longer than persons living alone or households with more than one adult member.
Cuts to the general housing allowance in 2024
A number of changes will be made to the general housing allowance in 2024. These changes will reduce the amount of the allowance. The compensation percentage of the allowance is reduced from the current 80% to 70%, and the maximum housing costs in Helsinki are reduced to the same level as the rest of the Greater Helsinki area. In addition, the basic deductible will be increased and the deduction for earned income will no longer be available. For more detailed information about the changes to the general housing allowance, visit Kela’s website.
The total expenditure on general housing allowance has increased in the 2010s as a result of legislative amendments. A legislative amendment of the general housing allowance scheme in 2015 caused an increase in the scheme expenditure. The amendment at that time simplified the system, expanded eligibility and increased the number of recipients.
In 2017, spending on the general housing allowance increased by 16.6% as most students were transferred from the student housing supplement to the general housing allowance scheme in August of that year. The spending continued to increase in 2018, when students were covered by the general housing allowance scheme throughout the year. Most students received higher benefits as a result of the transfer to the general housing allowance scheme. As a consequence, the increase in general housing allowance expenditure was greater than the amount previously spent on student housing supplement.
Kela provides the following housing benefits: general housing allowance, housing allowance for pensioners, student housing supplement and housing assistance for conscripts. Housing costs are also taken into account when reviewing an application for basic social assistance.
