Foreign students already in Finland

Submit your housing application to the TOAS Student Housing Office.

You are welcome to visit the Student Housing Office to view available housing alternatives. If you are already residing with TOAS but considering a change of apartment due to family or some other reason, you can ask the Housing Office for available options. When applying for an apartment, please indicate which apartment type you are applying for (family or shared apartment, studio apartment).

You may apply for housing within a specific location group or by submitting an open application.
If you submit an open application, you will be offered any vacant TOAS housing pertaining to your indicated apartment type.

Applying for an apartment

You can fill out an application form at the Student Housing Office. A student card or proof of studies is alwaysrequired when signing the tenancy agreement. Studying at an educational unit in Tampere is a precondition of renting with TOAS. All students already studying or those who have been accepted to a further educational unit in Tampere are welcome to apply foran apartment with TOAS. Your application will be valid for 6 months. You must make sure that the application is renewed, if necessary, after this time. Expired applications will not be stored or saved. Once an apartment becomes available to you, a Letter of Acceptance will be sent to the address indicated on the application form. Please make sure the address is valid. A notification is sent to the applicant first on the waiting list when a property becomes available. The applicant must respond to the notification within the given timeframe and also accept the given commencement date of their tenancy contract. The application becomes null and void if these conditions are not met, with the property being offered to the next applicant on the waiting list.

How are tenants selected?

Applications are numbered and stored in the order of arrival in the selection system. The following points influence the waiting time:

• The application number; priority is given to those who have been waiting the longest.
• Preferred housing location and number of rooms; the most popular locations and studio apartments
are much sought after and involve long waiting lists.
• Number of children when applying for family apartments.

There are several different waiting lists: waiting lists for shared apartments for men/women only; shared apartments with two or three study-bedrooms; studio apartments; family apartments; family apartments with one bedroom, living room and kitchen, etc. Your application will be placed on the waiting list according to the application number. For the family apartments, the application number will be reduced by a number corresponding to the number of children.

On average, the waiting time for a studio apartment is at least two years, and one year for a family apartment. However, families with children are often offered an apartment within a couple of months. Shared apartments are available sooner and new students are encouraged to apply for these.

New applications come in all the time, and the waiting list situation changes continuously. New applications are placed on the waiting list according to their application number. If an earlier applicant changes his/her desired location, or a family with children submits an application, they may take precedence over other applicants on the waiting list. When an apartment becomes available, it is offered to the first applicant on the waiting list. To ensure tenancy, you must respond to the notification within the specified time and accept the apartment on the given date. Failing this, the apartment will be offered to the next applicant on the waiting list and your application will expire. TOAS wants to avoid keeping any apartments empty.