Housing services for older people

Housing services come in many forms. In the case of communal housing you may rent or in some cases buy a flat or a room in a communal housing unit. Flats or rooms always have separate toilets, and staff take care of your wellbeing. Communal housing includes different service packages at different prices. You can also purchase, for example, the housing's meal, housecleaning and care and nurture services.

The help and support will be fitted to your needs. You can get help regularly or when you need it. 24-hour service housing means that care is available round the clock. 

Housing services are organised by wellbeing services counties, associations and companies. The prices and services of different providers vary. To get into housing services organised by the wellbeing services county, contact the social welfare services.

Living in a communal housing unit is suitable for anyone who needs help and support in their everyday lives as they age or feels alone or unsafe in their current home. You will have a private flat or a room with your own toilet, but you can meet other residents in the building’s common areas and in the dining room.

The personnel will support you with your housing needs, eating and use of health services as you need. Joint activities and recreation are organised for the older people living in the unit.

Communal housing units serve the people who live in them and often also other older people living nearby. For example, they may offer service packages, meals, help with cleaning and doing laundry and organise events and parties where everyone can join in.

The services may include

• care
• safety phones and alarm services
• weekly activities led by an instructor at a service centre
• bathing in the sauna on your own or with help
• using a gym
• the possibility of organising your own parties in the common areas or the dining room.

Meals may mean breakfast, lunch and dinner, which you may buy separately or under a monthly contract. 

You may usually purchase cleaning and household services to your communal housing unit without having to pay VAT. You may also claim tax credit for household expenses for the services you have purchased.

A wellbeing services county may run communal housing units and nursing homes itself, or buy these services from companies or non-governmental organisations. A wellbeing services county may also give service vouchers to older people, who can use the vouchers to pay for the cost of living in housing services.

When you use a service voucher, you also have to pay the excess to the service provider. This means you pay the difference between the value of the service voucher and the price charged for the service. The value of the service voucher is based on your income. In 24-hour service housing the maximum amount of your fees is 85 per cent of your monthly income. If your income is higher than your spouse`s income, the fee which is determined on the basis of the combined monthly income of you both is not more than it would be if calculated on the basis of your own monthly income. 

In a communal housing unit, you will pay rent or a fee for your flat. You will also pay the price shown on the price list for the support services that you use. The fees for communal housing are determined according to the customer's needs and based on whether the service is provided by the wellbeing services county itself, purchased as a procured service or purchased with a service voucher. More detailed information is available at your wellbeing services county's social welfare services.  

If you get yourself a place in a private communal housing unit or a nursing home, you will pay the full cost. You should talk to the housing unit about the services you will need before you move in. This way, the total price of living there will not come as a surprise for you.

You can apply for a pensioner’s housing allowance and care allowance to pay for your housing and living costs. They are granted by Kela. If you buy cleaning or other services for your flat, apply to the tax office for domestic help credit.

You can access 24-hour service housing with care available to you around the clock. Contact the wellbeing services county´s social welfare services to determine your situation and needs in cooperation with professionals in different fields. The views of the older person and their family are always listened to and respected when carrying out this assessment.

Ín 24-hour service housing, special attention is paid to

• maintaining the older person’s functional capacity and social networks
• eating properly
• taking medicines safely
• oral health
• older people’s safety.

wellbeing services counties offer 24-hour service housing in their own operating units. 

They may also buy this service from companies or organisations, or older people can buy the services with service vouchers.

You can apply for housing services if living at home is no longer possible even with the help of the support measures of home care. To have your service need assessed, contact the social welfare services of your wellbeing services county. If you live in Helsinki you should contact social welfare services of the City of Helsinki. Based on the service need assessment, a client plan will be drawn up and your need for a place in care will be recorded in it. The updated client plan will serve as the basis for agreeing on housing services or some other housing solution suitable for your needs. 

Ultimately, the wellbeing services county will decide what kind of housing service you get and what kind of services you are entitled to. However, the wellbeing services county must also take into account your personal opinions and your individual situation.  The wellbeing services county must communicate the decision and organise the place of care that you are entitled to within three months from your contact. In urgent situations, you may receive the services you need even before the client plan has been drawn up.

There are no rules for private service providers on the pricing of housing services for older people. Private service providers therefore decide their prices themselves. However, the prices must always be reasonable. The prices must also be indicated as clearly, unambiguously and transparently as possible.

If you wish to buy housing services directly from a private service provider, familiarise yourself carefully with the terms and conditions of agreement. Find out the prices, how they are formed and what services they include. Compare the services and prices of different service providers.

Sometimes the wellbeing services county organises the services by purchasing them from a private service provider. In that case, the customer is charged the same fees and compensation as for the corresponding services provided by the wellbeing services county itself.

The parties producing housing services must themselves supervise, develop and follow the quality of their services and sufficiency of personnel. Self-regulation includes the service provider`s responsibility to check the extract from the criminal record for those intending to work with older people.

The unit providing the service must draw up a public self-monitoring plan to support the supervision of its operations. The implementation of the service must be monitored regularly and the activities must be developed on the basis of the feedback received from customers and personnel.

Wellbeing services counties that operate as service providers as well as service providers who provide housing services in more than just one service unit have to draw up the self-regulation programme regarding their tasks and services they are responsible for. The plan has to be published for example on their website.

The wellbeing services county must ensure that those who need housing services for older people receive services in accordance with their client plan. The wellbeing services county must also ensure that an individual unit providing the service is capable of providing the care and services needed by that person.

At a regional level, supervision of the housing services for older people organised by wellbeing services counties is supervised by the regional state administrative agencies. The National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health Valvira in turn guides the regional state administrative agencies to ensure that supervision is as uniform as possible everywhere in Finland.

Finnish Institute for health and welfare regularly controls the quality of home care services and sufficiency of personnel nationwide.

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