Asuminen Oulussa

Housing in Oulu

General information on housing in Finland may be found on the housing page of the Info Bank website or on the asuminen.fi website, which is available in Finnish, Swedish and English.

The housing situation in Oulu is good, with many housing options available. Oulu is divided into 16 areas, with basic services such as a grocery store, bank, school, community centre, library and health care centre available in the centre of each area. Further details of housing in Oulu are available on the City of Oulu website in Finnish or English.

Rented accommodation

Apartments can be leased from the public sector or from private landlords. Contact information and lists of organisations providing rental housing can be found on the City of Oulu website in English. You may also find a rental apartment through newspaper advertising, either by placing your own advertisement or responding to one. The following newspapers carry rental apartment advertising in Oulu: Kaleva, Forum24, Oulu-lehti and Rauhantervehdys.

Right-of-occupation housing

Right-of-occupation housing is an alternative to renting or buying your own home. A right-of-occupation down-payment (about 15 per cent of the price of the apartment) plus a monthly rent secures a permanent right to occupy the apartment. There is no way to purchase the apartment outright, but you may sell your right of occupation or exchange it for a similar right in another apartment.

There are currently about 1,500 right-of-occupation apartments in Oulu. The companies providing this service are listed in English on the City of Oulu website.

Buying a home

Estate agents will provide further details on buying a home. Information on houses and apartments for sale may be found in the windows of estate agent businesses, in local newspapers or on the Internet, listed in Finnish at www.asuminen.fi/omistusasuminen. Further details and links to the websites of estate agents in Oulu are available on the City of Oulu website in English.

Building and construction plots

Details of building licences and construction plots are available at the Oulu10 Service Point or on the Oulu10 Service Point website in Finnish or English.

Water, electricity and household waste

Oulun vesi, is responsible for distributing drinking water and treating wastewater (website in Finnish only).

Oulu Energy (Oulun Energia) is responsible for distributing electric power and district heating (website in Finnish only).

Municipal Solid Waste Management of Oulu (Oulun jätehuolto) is responsible for collecting and recycling household waste. Further details of its work are available online in Finnish or English.