There are many forms of housing
Shared housing and co-op living
If you are prepared to share a kitchen and a bathroom with other people, you can usually find an apartment that is more affordable than renting an apartment of your own. Shared housing usually means that you and the others rent the entire apartment together, while a co-op living arrangement means that you rent one room in an entire apartment. You can rent an apartment together with a group of friends, but the people you live with can just as well be people who do not know each other beforehand. When choosing shared housing, it is a good idea to take your time when making the lease agreement. How you arrange your living together has a significant effect on matters such as who is responsible for any damage to the apartment and who has to compensate when one person is unable to pay their share of the rent. The nature of the contract also affects how the housing allowance provided by Kela is determined.
SUBLEASE
A sublease refers to a lease where no more than half of the apartment is given for the use of another person for a remuneration. A tenant may have a subtenant without the landlord’s permission as long as the sublease does not cause the landlord any considerable inconvenience. When you decide to become a subtenant, make sure that the tenant of the apartment has the right to sublease it. In a sublease the main tenant acts as the landlord, i.e. sublessor, and is responsible to the owner of the apartment for the subtenant’s actions, including any damage. A sublessor’s period of notice is three months if the sublease has continued uninterrupted for at least a year and one month otherwise. When the subtenant terminates the sublease, the period of notice is 14 days. However, even without a separate termination, a sublease will always end simultaneously with the sublessor’s leasehold.
Home of your own despite a disability
Every young person is, without a doubt, looking forward to moving into a home of their own. They are about to become independent, step into the future, receive plenty of new experiences and learn many new things. Choosing your first apartment is often a no-brainer; just rent the most suitable apartment considering your personal situation. With a physically disabled young person, there may be many things to consider: what sort of housing would suit my needs, where can I find an apartment with sufficient accessibility, how can I arrange assistance in my home of my own? For some, an apartment that has been designed to be accessible, has no stairs, can be accessed with a lift and has doors that are wide enough will suffice. Additionally, personal assistance can be arranged through the municipality. This way, a disabled young person can have a personal assistant who will help them with daily activities such as dressing, personal hygiene and cooking when necessary. The assistant is thus there to facilitate easy everyday life and independence for the disabled young person. You can apply to your municipality’s services for the disabled for your apartment to be modified, whereupon the municipality must compensate for any modifications necessitated by a disability or illness. These can include widening the doors, building ramps or implementing an electronic door system, for example.
Validia Housing Services, a service provided by the Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities, offers housing for people with special needs related to housing. A disabled young person who needs considerable help to support daily living (such as 24-hour assistance) can apply for housing in a Validia service unit for disabled people. There are units all over Finland with ensured accessibility and functionality. Every resident is entitled to individually tailored support and assistance for daily activities where necessary, with respect for independence kept in mind. For more information regarding the housing services, please contact: Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities, switchboard tel. +358 (0)9 613 191 or sales services tel. +358 (0)800 140 500. There are bound to be suitable apartments and functional solutions to facilitate easy everyday life for every young person, those with disabilities included. Be active and do not hesitate to say what you need. This will ensure the best options for you can be found.