Housing offer for exchange student

We offer apartments twice a year:

We can’t estimate the exact time when we are able to offer you an apartment. You will usually receive an offer for apartment at least two weeks before your studies begin. Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee an apartment for all exchange students.

We don’t have queue for apartments but consider the information we receive from your school when making housing offers. This is why the person who has waited the longest may not always be the first to receive an offer.

You get the housing offer by email from noreply@hoas.fi. The email includes the details of the apartment and a link to applicant services where you can accept the offer. When you use Hoas online services for the first time, you need to register as a user.

The offer concerns only the apartment mentioned on the offer, and it can’t be changed to another apartment.

Check the deadline for accepting the housing offer and make sure to accept it before the due date. The response time is typically short since we have a lot of applicants.

If you want to reject the offer, log into applicant online service and reject the offer. If you want to keep applying, update your application to reactivate it. If you don’t accept or reject the offer by due date, the offer will expire and your application becomes inactive.

If you need more time to accept the housing offer, contact our exchange student services as soon as possible. It is not always possible to give extra time.

We can’t guarantee you another offer, and it is very unlikely to get another offer especially in autumn. However, you can update your previous application to keep your application active. Please note, that we offer apartments primarily to those who have not received any offers.

What if my exchange in Finland has not yet been confirmed?

You may receive a housing offer before you have been informed of your acceptance to your host school. We recommend that you accept the housing offer anyway since due to the large number of applicants we can make you only the one housing offer. If it happens that you are not accepted to the school, your tenancy agreement can be cancelled without any costs and you will receive your full deposit back.

I was offered an apartment but the rental period does not match my stay

All fixed-term tenancy agreements for exchange students are in line with the information we receive from schools. If the start or end date of the tenancy agreement doesn’t match your study information, please contact our exchange student services. We will contact your school to check the information and make changes to the validity period accordingly.

However, in some cases we can’t offer you an apartment for the whole duration of your stay. Sometimes the reason is, for example, an ongoing renovation. This information will be included in your apartment offer if it is applicable to you.

I no longer wish to share an apartment with my co-applicant

We make offers that are specific to your application. If you no longer wish to share an apartment with the person you applied with, we must cancel the offer. You can’t change your co-applicant and you cannot move into the offered apartment on your own.

You may submit a new application after your previous application is removed, but please note that we offer apartments primarily to those who have not received any offers.

Why did I get an offer for a different apartment type than what I applied for?

We will primarily offer you the type of apartment you have applied for. However, if there are no longer apartments of that type available, we may offer you another type of apartment. Your application remains active even if all the apartment types are offered in case there are cancellations or different apartment types becomes available later.

The deposit is 500 euros per person in all apartment types. Please note that in a shared studio both tenants must pay their own deposit.

Deposit is a guarantee for Hoas in case the tenant doesn’t pay the rent or other fees, or they damage the apartment. The deposit cannot be used to pay for rent, and it cannot be used while the tenancy agreement is in effect. When your tenancy ends, we return the deposit according to our guidelines.

The apartment offer email includes instructions and details needed for deposit payment.

All payments related to Hoas tenancy can be made with the Visa or Mastercard card payments in Hoas’s online services. You can also pay by bank transfer. We don’t accept cheques or cash payments.

Make sure that the receipt of payment of international bank transfer has:

Deliver the receipt of paid deposit to Hoas as an attachment when accepting the housing offer. Make sure the attachment is in an uneditable form.

After you have accepted the housing offer and everything is in order, we will send you an email invite to sign the tenancy agreement online.

After signing the tenancy agreement, please note that you can’t cancel or change it.

Tenancy agreements for exchange students are made for full calendar months. Your tenancy agreement begins always the first day of the month. Agreements usually begin either 1^st of August or September for autumn semester and 1^st of January for spring semester. Sometimes the date may vary, and this information will be included in the offer if applicable.