Finland cuts housing aid for students in 2025 « Euro Weekly News

From August, around 150,000 Finnish students will see their monthly housing support cut. Under the new rules, the students living away from home only get help during the month they’ve enrolled. This means July and August come without a single euro unless you’re doing summer courses. Meanwhile, rents aren’t falling. The average student flat costs €566 per month, even with subsidies, at €482, leaving a significant gap.

So, who’s losing how much? What toolkits are students turning to? And is this helping anyone—or just pushing the pressure back onto vulnerable households?

Who’s affected 

Students who rent independently will see cuts depending on their city and study month. However, those who are paying rent to family members are being hit the hardest, as students, because under the new system, their housing aid will drop to a flat rate of €88 per month, regardless of their location. The figure before that was often over €300, depending on income and location.

Inka Kuusijärvi, who studies in Turku, rents the room from her parents ‘ home. She told local media that their monthly support went from €217 to just €83. Yes, it helped with grocery bills, even if she lived with her mom. But she paid rent like anyone else.
The new model eliminates this issue if your landlord is a relative, as your support is automatically reduced—no exceptions, even if you pay market rent. 

Since aid is only available during active study months, any time off, even during the official summer break, means zero housing support unless you’re enrolled in coursework.

Less aid, more control

According to Kela, the agency responsible for Finland’s social benefits, the students’ housing support is targeted. They aim to make those payments conditional on active study rather than providing blanket support across the calendar year.

This move is expected to save the government over €5 million per year, allowing for greater administrative control. Students previously covered under the general housing allowance, an income-based scheme, are now being transitioned into the study grant-specific housing supplement. 

And with that change, it will give the government more power to limit when and how support housing is distributed. However, critics argue that what is framed as a fix for inefficiency is, in reality, a withdrawal of support, especially for low-income or non-traditional students who rely on year-round housing.

And the cuts arrive without any real alternatives because the rent doesn’t stop in July, and family situations don’t change in August. This policy may save money on spreadsheets, but it’s putting pressure elsewhere. 

The new housing support

The new housing support rules assume flexibility, allowing students to live by semester and pay by month, and scale their living situations to match their studies. However, student housing in Finland does not operate in this manner.

Most rentals are fixed 12-month contracts, whether in a university-owned flat or renting privately, so ending a lease for July and August can mean losing your place in cities where vacancy rates are low, and leases are relatively long.

Kela’s policy assumes a certain level of financial and logistical fluidity. Still, it’s not available to most students, especially those without parents to rely on or a credit history to secure a new lease on short notice.

The changes will be applicable in August, and unless the student is officially enrolled in summer study, the housing aid will remain paused during July and August going forward. 

This reform is being integrated into Finland’s longer-term welfare streamlining, which is part of its austerity plan for 2025 to 2026. 

It’s personal. For students trying to live month to month — who plan their budgets around housing aid and who don’t have anyone to make up the shortfall — the change wasn’t just policy. It was a breaking point. This concerns what the state considers a justifiable risk and who ultimately bears it.