Providing lodging for asylum seekers does not affect the general housing allowance

The general housing allowance is not affected if someone provides temporary lodging in one's home for an asylum seeker who is registered at a reception centre.

If a household in receipt of general housing allowance wishes to take in an asylum seeker who is registered at a reception centre, this does not affect the housing allowance being paid to the household. The reason for this is that the asylum seeker is considered as living in the home only temporarily.

The situation is different, however, if the asylum seeker who needs lodging is a family member of the recipient of housing allowance, for instance, spouse or child, and moves into the home permanently. In such situations, the share of the person who is moving into the home is deducted from the housing costs that are taken into account in the housing allowance. The reason for this is that the family member is not covered by the Finnish social security system and therefore cannot be included as a household member.

Example: A mother lives with her child in a rented two-bedroomed apartment. They receive general housing allowance payments from Kela. The allowance is based on a monthly rent of €900, which is taken into account as housing costs. An asylum seeker moves into their home, and he is the mother's spouse. In this case, the housing costs used as a basis for calculating the housing allowance are reduced by 1/3, with the result that €600 per month are now recognised as housing costs.

For media inquiries, contact:
Kela’s Pension and Income Security Department,
Henna Huhtamäki, legal counsel, Tel. 020 634 3826 or 040 355 9038
Mikko Horko, legal counsel, Tel. 020 634 3428
firstname.surname@kela.fi

Additional information for customers:

www.kela.fi/web/en/moving-to-finland_residence-in-finland-in-some-other-capacity

www.kela.fi/web/en/general-housing-allowance