You can apply to AYY owned housing starting from the moment you have been approved to study in the Aalto-University and you have accepted the study place. You can make an application before you have a student number. If you do, remember to supplement the number to the application immediately when you get it.
You will also need to include a copy of your approval letter to the Aalto University in your application. Please include this as an attachment when creating your account in the Domo system.
Please remember to add a Finnish social security number to Domo if you have one. If you receive a social security number later, update the information to both Domo and the University’s Oodi system. Domo checks student status from Oodi by comparing the student number to one’s social security number or birth date, and if the numbers are not updated to both systems, Domo cannot confirm if someone is a student or not.
Right of residency for new students begins on the 1st of August (or the 1st of January if you have submitted as being absent for the fall term), so before this you cannot begin living at AYY apartments. So, in your application, the first preferred move-in date can be earliest on the 1st of August. If you need an apartment before August, you may apply for a summer apartment, but to continue living in one you need to fill out a new apartment application. Remember to inform of your situation when filling out the application to receive the correct points.
Shared apartments for new students
AYY wants to support that as many new Aalto University students as possible would receive an apartment from AYY and could focus on their studies. This is why first-year students receive an extra point in applying for unfurnished AYY shared apartments, in addition to all the other points. The extra point is active from July to the end of February next year, starting from their first year of studies. Please note that AYY does not have any furnished apartments. More information can be found here.
New students get the information about their study place in different times, so the date the application is made can not affect the order of the queue for new students. Therefore, the order of all applications of first year students made during the new student’s application period will be randomized. This means that the applications for shared apartments made by first-year students are based in the queue according to points, not the time they were submitted. Applications with the same amount of points will receive their places in the queue via mutual lottery, so that applications received later can still get a higher place in the queue. The randomization goes hand in hand with the extra point for new students, so the randomized order stays in place until the extra point is removed.
Because of the randomization, the order of the queues for the shared apartments are completely unknown before the end of the new student’s application period. The queue will change very much before all the applications of the new students have been approved and randomized into the queue.
First-year students that have registered for non-attendance
If you have registered as being non-attending at Aalto University during your first year, you may still apply for an apartment immediately. You will not be offered an apartment before the start of your studies, and when queueing for unfurnished shared apartments, the time spent in the queue doesn’t really matter. When applying for an apartment beforehand do the following extra actions:
- State the preferred move-in date to be in the following year, at earliest the month you start your studies (January for people absent in the fall, August for people absent for the whole year)
- Apply for extra points for the application on Domo and add a written notification on when you are actually beginning your studies. The housing office can thus check your status from the Aalto University system and make changes to your right of residency and institute your new student extra point to be active for the correct time.
Please note! When the actual date when you need an apartment starts closing in, remember to check your application! If you have an urgent need for an apartment when this happens, add or replace your old notification with new proof of an urgent need for an apartment. By doing this, you ensure your application is re-checked for points and you will receive extra points for urgency if the conditions are fulfilled. Otherwise your application will stay as it is. If the proof of an urgent need of an apartment has been added over 6 months prior or if the grounds for urgency have expired, the urgency point may be removed.
When will I know if I’ll get an apartment from AYY in time?
The apartment offers for new students will be made during June and July. For leases beginning 1.9. the offers are mainly made in July and August. The fall is the busiest time of the year for the AYY Housing Office, so please try to avoid asking the Housing Office for more detailed info on if and when you might be getting an apartment offer. You will receive an apartment offer if you are to receive one, but it is impossible for the housing office to verify beforehand. The student apartment situation during the fall is difficult, and we understand that the situation is stressful to new students. Still, unfortunately, making accurate forecasts is impossible.
There is practically always a queue for AYY apartments, and it is not possible to offer an apartment to all applicants that are starting their studies. We do not have enough housing, not even to account for students with an urgent need for an apartment. This is why you should apply for housing as broadly as possible.
Try to make sure you have an apartment before you travel to Finland. For more options on finding accommodation in the capital area, please check the AYY guide on finding housing. AYY has also traditionally organized for small-scale emergency housing, along with Aalto University, for students that arrive to the capital region from the countryside and other countries, and have no other options for housing.