In the coming weeks, many small housing companies will receive a letter from the National Land Survey. It directs housing companies to report data to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. All housing companies will have received their letters by the end of February.
So far, more than 600 small housing companies have reported their administrative data to the property information system. Last summer, large housing companies started reporting data through their own property management systems. There are 45,000 large housing companies in Finland, of which 18,300 have reported their data.
‘Small housing companies can use our online service to report their data to us. Naturally, the service is free to use,’ says Janne Murtoniemi, Director for Apartment Ownership Services.
Legal requirement to report data, with exceptions
Reporting administrative data to the property information system is a legal requirement for all housing companies. The data a housing company must report are its housing company loans, maintenance and alteration work and renovations carried out by apartment owners, as well as the loan shares and rental charges. If there are no more than five apartments in a housing company, data reporting is voluntary. If the housing company has a loan that is shared with the owners of the apartments, the company must report its data regardless of its size. If an apartment owner, bank or real estate agent requests to update the data in the property information system, it becomes necessary to report the data.
‘This is a continuous reporting obligation and the information must be kept up-to-date. Further down the line, the property manager must update the housing company's administrative data in the system after the general meeting or at least once per year,’ Janne Murtoniemi says.
The data of a properly maintained housing company are available in the property information system
Reporting data to the property information system benefits both housing companies and the individual apartment owners. If the company receives a new property manager, the data of the housing company and the shareholders remain in the system. Banks and creditors report data on housing company loans and may apply to register an apartment’s ownership on behalf of their customers with the National Land Survey of Finland. Banks use the data in the system when they grant mortgages or determine the value of an apartment. Real estate agents use the data to handle property transactions on behalf of the buyer and seller. Apartment owners can also view the data on their own apartment, as well as review and correct their contact information.
Further information
Reporting data in the online service for independent building managers
Information to the media: Janne Murtoniemi, Director, Registration Process, National Land Survey of Finland, +358 40 710 8862, firstname.lastname@nls.fi