No housing allowance for owner-occupied homes from January

Starting from the beginning of 2025, general housing allowance will no longer be available for owner-occupied homes, said the Social Insurance Institution-Kela in a press release on Tuesday.

Interest payments on housing loans for right-of-occupancy homes will also no longer be taken into account.

The changes, however, do not apply to the housing allowance for pensioners.

December 2024 will be the last month for which general housing allowance is available for owner-occupied homes.

After that, general housing allowance will no longer be paid for housing costs for owner-occupied homes, such as maintenance charges, maintenance costs for a single-family home and interest payments on housing loans.

Kela will stop paying housing allowance for owner-occupied homes automatically.

The affected households do not have to take any action in this regard.

The change does not apply to right-of-occupancy or part-ownership homes.

General housing allowance will continue to be available for such homes.

However, in the case of right-of-occupancy homes, interest payments on housing loans will no longer be recognised as housing costs. This change will also take effect on 1 January 2025.

A home is considered an owner-occupied home even if there is a rental agreement for the home:

If the home where a self-employed person lives is held by a company or real estate corporation and the self-employed person owns at least 50 percent of the company, if the household owns at least 50 percent of the home and if the home is in joint ownership.

The home is also counted as an owner-occupied home when the household is responsible for the housing costs in a similar way as for owner-occupied homes.

If for instance a beneficiary of an estate lives in a home owned by the estate and is responsible for the housing costs in a similar manner to an owner, the home is considered an owner-occupied home.

General housing allowance granted for such homes will also be ended.

If the customer's income and assets, after the housing allowance has ended, are not enough to pay for food, housing and other necessary living expenses, the customer can use the calculator for social assistance to estimate if they are entitled to basic social assistance.