Frontpage Making a difference

Housing is a basic need - the Home Owners' Association's got your back!

The majority of Finns want to live in their own home. The Home Owners' Association wants to promote small housing and bring more real options to Finnish housing policy. The Association honours individual housing, a sense of community, and comfortable living environs.

The Association's goals are to

  • ensure that the living costs and obligations of home owners are reasonable and fair.
  • promote small house maintenance through knowledge and info on renovation, major overhaul and building.
  • make the voice of the people heard by promoting civil activity.



The Home Owners' Association also acts on international level

Because EU-regulations leave only very limited room for national interpretation, it is important to be on top of upcoming regulations and changes. Therefore, we are actively taking part in the early decision-making process on the international level, and making the voice of Finland's small house dwellers heard.

EU regulations reach into various sectors of life more intensively than ever before. Of these sectors, energy, global warming, housing, building and consumer positions are right in the centre of operations for the Association. 

In the coming decade, energy efficiency demands and exhaust regulations are going to get tighter, and the effects of global warming policies on small housing are going to increase. These decisions are based on Finland's international treaties.

Housing in general and heating costs in Finland differ greatly from those in southern Europe, and this is why we need to be around the decision-making table, to tell our view.



Nordic co-operation

We keep regularly in touch with our Nordic brother associations – the Swedish and Norweguan home owners' associations Villaägarnas Riksförbund and Huseiernes Landsforbund.

Through an exchange of experiences and ways of working, we get new ideas and perspectives that benefit all parties.


Omakotiliiton-veljesjärjestöt
Villaägarnas Riksförbund and Huseiernas Landsforbund visited Finland in October 2014. During the two-day visit, we heard about Nordic living in single-family homes as well as the work of these organisations. The Swedes and Norwegians listened with interest about our association’s home maintenance book and house janitor services, -as they do not offer these kinds of services themselves yet.



Local home owners' and holiday home owners' associations work with local legislation

The local promotion of interests is directed at local councils. It's about the comfort, health and safety of residential areas – things that affect living in single-family housing on a daily basis as well as the living environs.

The associations act as representatives when it comes to city planning and zoning, and are often asked to share their views of developments being planned.

The associations can also make motions to promote small housing.  Municipal costs and fees in addition to property tax significantly influence small house living.



Part of UIPI

Being part of larger coalitions like the International Union of Property Owners (UIPI) and benefiting from the co-operation of the Nordic brother organisations, we are able to receive crucial information beforehand and are thus able to make initiatives early on in the process. International co-operation is the way to knowledge and results.

The Finnish Home Owners' Association has been a member of UIPI since 2014.UIPI logo

UIPI speaks for 1.5 million private home owners and 3.5 million private landlords within 30 individual member associations from 28 different countries (Finland included).
The mission of UIPI is to protect and promote the interests, needs and concerns of homeowners and landlords on the national, European and international levels.
Based in Brussels, UIPI represents its members with a view towards EU institutions. It monitors developments at the EU level and seeks to influence EU legislation and policies which have an impact on real estate, the building sector, private-rented sector and property rights. UIPI also works to defend and support the property sector in an increasing number of international fora.

UIPI concentrates on

  1. Property taxation
  2. New legislation concerning housing (energy efficiency)
  3. Consumer rights
UIPI’s office is situated in Brussels, and the head of the organisation is Stratos Paradias. 

On the UIPI agenda right now

  1. 2030 climate change framework consultation
    • current regulatory burdens are enough
    • goals are not coherent nor cost-effective
    • the need for a bigger picture
    • more flexibility for national implementation
    • tax incentive could further energy sufficiency
    • sustainable construction
    • deep renovation concept
    • options for financial aid to the private sector
  1. Green paper on insurance consultation
  2. Social housing