Information package: Housing benefits

Kela pays housing benefits to low-income households. The following is a brief overview of the current state of and recent trends in housing benefits. At the end, you will find links to more information on this topic from Kela, including statistics and studies on housing benefits.

In 2025, Kela paid out a total of EUR 2.1 billion in housing benefits, of which EUR 1.2 billion was general housing allowance.

More than 240,000 households received general housing allowance at the end of 2025. These households included a little under 412,000 people.

The majority of the recipients of general housing allowance are unemployed. Most recipients live alone.

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.

Expenditure on housing benefits

In 2025, Kela paid out a little under EUR 2.1 billion in housing benefits.

The expenditure on housing benefits decreased by 14% on the previous year when adjusted for inflation.

Expenditure on the different housing benefits in 2025:

• EUR 1,228 million on general housing allowance
• EUR 685 million on housing allowance for pensioners
• EUR 165 million on housing supplement for students.

In addition, EUR 460 million in basic social assistance was paid out towards housing costs.

Number of recipients of housing benefits

General housing allowance was paid to 240,400 households at the end of 2025.

Housing allowance for pensioners was paid to 192,500 persons and housing supplement for students to 147,500 persons.

The number of households receiving general housing allowance decreased by 37% compared with the end of 2024. The reasons for this decrease in the number of recipient households were that general housing allowance was no longer paid to persons living in owner-occupied housing and that students were transferred to the student housing supplement scheme.

In December 2025, a total of 411,700 persons were living in households that were paid general housing allowance. This corresponded to 9.5% of the population under the age of 65.

Recipients of general housing allowance

General housing allowance is most commonly paid to unemployed persons living alone.

At the end of 2025, unemployed households accounted for 62%, employed households for 18%, student households for 3% and other households for 17% of all general housing allowance recipients. The number of student households decreased from the previous year.

Of the households receiving general housing allowance, 65% were single-person households, 28% families with children, 3% couples and 4% other types of households. At the end of 2025, a total of 66,900 families with children received general housing allowance, of which 47,300 were single-parent families and 19,600 two-parent families.

Changes in housing benefits in the 2020s

In the 2020s, there have been cuts to the general housing allowance, eligibility criteria have been tightened and students have been transferred to the student housing supplement scheme.

Since the beginning of 2025, persons living in owner-occupied housing have not been eligible for general housing allowance. In August 2025, students were transferred to the student housing supplement scheme.

In 2024, several changes were made to the general housing allowance:

• the compensation percentage decreased from 80% to 70%
• the maximum housing costs taken into account in Helsinki were brought down to the same level as the rest of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area
• the basic deductible was increased
• the exempt amount for earned income was abolished

Some households now receive a smaller amount of general housing allowance while others no longer receive it at all. With the abolishment of the exempt amount and the increase in the basic deductible, the cuts have especially affected employed households.

Changes in housing benefits in the 2010s

The total expenditure on general housing allowance increased in the 2010s as a result of several legislative changes.

The general housing allowance scheme underwent a reform in 2015, causing an increase in the scheme expenditure. The legislative amendment made at that time simplified the scheme, expanded eligibility for the benefit and increased the number of recipients.

Most students were transferred from the student housing supplement scheme to the general housing allowance scheme in August 2017. Expenditure on general housing allowance increased by 16.6% in 2017 and further in 2018, when students were covered by the 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.