Register the ownership of an owner apartment

The ownership of an apartment needs to be registered with the NLS when the housing company’s list of shares is in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. As a result, the current ownership is indicated in a paper share certificate or in an electronic registration in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System of the NLS. We charge a registration fee for the registration of ownership of each owner apartment.

Processing time

See the average processing times of applications and surveying services on the Application processing times page.

When you want to register the ownership of an apartment, follow these steps:

1. Contact the building manager or the NLS customer service to check whether the housing company’s list of shares has been transferred to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System.
2. Complete an application (in Finnish) to register the ownership of your apartment.
3. Acquire any other attachments.
4. Send the application and its attachments by post or via email, or bring them to a customer service location. Please note that ordinary, unencrypted e-mail is not secure. Send documents containing confidential information by secured e-mail or Securedmail.eu.

• When ownership is indicated by a paper share certificate, hand in the application and original share certificate to one of the National Land Survey's customer service points. You can also send the application and share certificate by post.
  • NLS will make the paper certificate void at the same time as your ownership is registered. If your share certificate is kept in custody at your bank, you can authorise your bank to register your ownership on your behalf. Note: This also applies if you exceptionally use a temporary certificate in place of a paper share certificate.
     
• When ownership is indicated in an electronic registration of ownership, attach the transferring party’s consent to your application.

Ownership must be registered in the following situations

• The current owner wants to register their ownership in the electronic system and make their paper share certificate void. The owner needs to register their ownership within ten years after the housing company has transferred its list of shares to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System.
   
• An owner apartment has changed owners after the transfer of the list of shares, and the ownership is indicated by a paper share certificate. In this case, the new owner must apply for the registration of their ownership within two months after signing the deed of transfer. If the apartment is new or the transfer of ownership is exempt from transfer tax, the registration must be applied for within two months after the transfer of ownership.
   
• An owner apartment has changed owners and it has an electronic registration of ownership. In this case, the new owner must apply for the registration of their ownership.
• Ownership can be transferred, for example, by means of a sale, gift, partitioning or inheritance.

• An amendment of the articles of association has been implemented at a housing company, resulting in a change in the share groups.

  For example, an amendment of the articles of association changes the share groups during renovation and extension work, when changing the numbering of shares or when combining or dividing apartments. Note: If completely new share groups are formed through the amendment of the articles of association, the housing company must report the ownership details to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. If share groups are discontinued through the amendment of the articles of association and new share groups are introduced to replace them, the shareholder must apply for the registration of their ownership of the replacement share groups.

  Read more about situations involving a change in the share groups on the Finnish Patent and Registration Office’s website

The apartment owner is entered in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. After this, the owner is shown in the printout of owner apartments.

The new owner will be added to the list of shares after NLS has received evidence of the payment of transfer tax. Information about the payment of tax or a first-time homebuyer’s exemption from transfer tax transfers automatically from the Tax Administration to NLS. 

See instructions on how to pay transfer tax.

From where can you check whether your housing company’s list of shares is in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System?

You can contact your building manager or the NLS customer service to check whether your housing company’s list of shares has been transferred to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. Every housing company must transfer their list of shares between 1 May 2019 and 31 December 2023 and notify their shareholders of the transfer. After this, housing companies’ lists of shares will be maintained by NLS.

If your housing company has not yet transferred its list of shares, you must notify your building manager and the Tax Administration of the change of ownership as before.

Clarification of ownership

Parties to an undistributed death estate can jointly apply for the registration of the ownership of an owner apartment belonging to the death estate. Applying for the clarification of ownership is not mandatory but makes further measures easier. Attach the deed of the estate inventory, an extract of family relations and any will to the application.

The clarification of ownership should be applied for, for example, when a death estate wants to sell the apartment of the deceased owner. In this case, the deed of estate inventory and an extract of family relations do not need to be provided for the buyer for the registration of ownership.

Required attachments

The attachments required depend on the type of transfer. Attachments can be delivered as copies, apart from paper share certificates and temporary certificates that must always be delivered as originals.

When a share certificate is made void in conjunction with the registration of ownership, the application needs to be signed by all owners, or they must provide a power of attorney.

The most typical attachments are listed below.

Sale

• Paper share certificate/temporary certificate as originals or the transferring party’s consent

Gift

• Paper share certificate/temporary certificate as originals or the transferring party’s consent

Partitioning or distribution of an estate

• Partitioning or distribution agreement
• Possible paper share certificate/temporary certificate
• Deed of estate inventory and extract of family relations
• Possible will

Will

• Will
• Acknowledgement of receiving information about the will or approvals from parties to the estate
• Possible declarations of compulsory shares and an account of the distribution of compulsory shares
• Possible paper share certificate/temporary certificate as originals
• Deed of estate inventory and extract of family relations

Partitioning agreement

• Partitioning agreement
• Possible paper share certificate/temporary certificate

An amendment of the articles of association that leads to changes in the share groups

• The housing company’s report on the formation of new share groups and the discontinuation of old ones. The housing company’s report must cover all changes that took place through the amendment of the articles of association. The report can be, for example, the minutes of the housing company’s shareholders’ meeting in which the amendment of the articles of association was processed.
• A paper share certificate/temporary certificate as originals if the ownership of the share group that was discontinued with the amendment of the articles of association was based on a paper share certificate.
• Application/consent of the pledgee and the party protected through restrictions if there were any pledging and restriction records for the share group that was discontinued with the amendment of the articles of association.

Prices for the registration of the ownership of an apartment

Our up-to-date pricelist can be found in Finnish and Swedish on our website. If you need more information, contact our customer service.