I compiled a list of these criteria and opened them up more than in the Iltasanomat article:
Criterion 1: Landlords hope that their tenant will have a good income and be employed
Finnish landlords say that they appreciate it if the tenant has a good income, has a job and also has as little unemployment history as possible. This makes it possible for those in permanent employment to have better position and more choice in rental apartments than the unemployed or students.
Criterion 2: Landlords hope that their tenant doesn’t have payment default entries in their credit history
Payment default entries aren’t an automatic block to getting a rental apartment, but a clean credit history is of course a competitive advantage for the applicants, and landlords use it to check whether the apartment applicant has had payment difficulties in the recent history. If the rents have not been paid, it is a big threshold issue for many landlords, so it is worth to be honest about your credit history and looking for a guarantor for your rent.
Criterion 3: Landlords hope that their tenant will have a “reliable personality” that makes a good impression
Reliability can best be expressed by telling about yourself and your own interest in the apartment during the first contact, for example by looking in the eyes, shaking hands, greeting and thanking for the meeting. When you do this it gives a much better first impression than a person who just immediately says “nice apartment, I’ll take this”. It is also important to arrive at the meeting on time and to have a representative dress code.
Criterion 4: Although it is prohibited by law, some landlords may still insist that the tenant can only be a female
Although the difficulty for men to get a rental apartment in Finland has decreased in recent years, some landlords still require their tenants to be female as a condition for renting an apartment, because they consider women to be more reliable and brtter tenants than men.
( OP’s note: if some landlord has evidently rejected your rental apartment application because of your gender, name, language or ethnicity, contact the Vuokralaiset ry immediately! link: https://www.vuokralaiset.fi/en/ )
Criterion 5: Landlords expect their tenants to have good or moderate skills to speak Finnish intelligibly
Finnish landlords see the lack of a common language as a problem, rather than seeing the applicant’s ethnic origin as a problem in itself. Landlords have expressed their concern about the smoothness of communication, for example in problem situations, if there is no common language and understanding with the tenants.
Criterion 6. Landlords hope that their tenant doesn’t have pets with them
Many landlords still have a strong desire that the tenant does not have pets, although the fear is often exaggerated. It is often about landlords’ concern that the tenant’s pet might cause damage to the apartment, which could reduce its value, such as leaving scratches and wear on the floor surfaces or they can shedding hairs around, in which case the apartment cannot be rented to someone with an allergy.
https://www.is.fi/taloussanomat/art-2000009757850.html
by DaMn96XD