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Housing company information and apartment information in one system

Deployed in 2019, the Residential and Commercial Property Information System is home to information on ownership, pledges and restrictions of housing companies – for example, their apartments and parking spaces. There are around 90,000 housing companies and 1.5 million apartments in Finland, and information on all will be saved in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System.

The electronic registration of ownership replaces the paper share certificate in transferring ownership of apartments and using them as collateral for loans. The Residential and Commercial Property Information System is regulated by legislation, and the National Land Survey of Finland (NLS) is responsible for its implementation and administration.

Electronic registration improves the availability and reliability of information on apartments and ownership. This facilitates apartment sales and granting loans. Giving up paper share certificates enables the development of digital services and makes the work of many operators easier. It marks a significant transition to a new digital system.

Two-stage transition to the system

Information on housing companies established before 2019 will be transferred to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System in two stages.

  1. First, housing companies must transfer their list of shares to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. The transfer must be made by the end of 2023. When the housing company is entered in the system, NLS becomes responsible for its administration, and the list of shares can be accessed via the system. Transferring to the new system is mandatory for housing companies, but optional for mutual real estate companies.
  2. In the second stage, each shareholder must apply for an electronic registration of ownership. The application must be submitted within 10 years of the date the list of shares is transferred, or when the apartment is sold to a new owner for the first time after the transfer. At the same time, the paper certificate will be voided by NLS. With an electronic registration of ownership, the ownership information of the apartment can be accessed via the Residential and Commercial Property Information System.

The housing company transfers the list of shares

Housing companies established before 2019 must transfer their list of shares to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System by the end of 2023. The transfer can be made by the property manager, the chair of the housing company’s board or a party that has been granted authorisation to handle the transfer. The transfer must be approved by the board of the housing company, and the shareholders must be notified of the transfer.
If the housing company’s administration is handled by a professional property manager, the property manager must always be contacted first before transferring the list of shares. Property managers often have an electronic system in use, in which they keep the information on the list of shares. The property manager’s system can be made use of in the transfer.

Housing companies and mutual real estate companies established in 2019 or after are automatically entered in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System, and no paper share certificates are printed for them.

Read more about transferring the list of shares (in Finnish)

Read more about interfaces for systems of property managers (in Finnish)

Shareholders apply for a registration of ownership

When the housing company has transferred its list of shares to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System, each shareholder must apply for a registration of ownership for their apartment from the NLS. While processing the application, the NLS voids the paper share certificate.

Shareholders can apply for the registration of ownership at any time after the list of shares has been transferred. However, the registration must be applied for within 10 years of the date the list of shares was transferred. If the share certificate is held by a bank as collateral for a loan, the bank can apply for the registration of ownership on behalf of the shareholder.

The electronic registration of ownership must be applied for earlier than this when the apartment is transferred to a new owner for the first time after the list of shares is transferred. In this case, the new owner must apply for the registration of ownership from the NLS within two months of the date of the sale, or the date ownership was transferred.

Information for apartment owners

Read more about the registration of ownership

Use our tool to check how to register the ownership of your apartment in different situations

Residential and Commercial Property Information System fees

NLS does not collect a fee from housing companies for the transfer of their list of shares if the transfer is made by the end of 2023. If the housing company has hired a professional property manager, the property manager may collect a fee for the transfer. After the transfer, the housing company can access the information in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System free of charge for the administration of their housing company.

NLS collects a registration fee from the shareholder for entries made in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. This fee is collected for registering ownerships, pledges and restrictions, for example. Once ownership information has been entered for an apartment, the shareholder is provided with the ownership information by the NLS free of charge.

If, for example, a bank applies for the registration of ownership on behalf of the shareholder, the bank may collect a fee of their own on top of NLS’s registration fee.

See the prices of our services related to apartments (in Finnish)

Changes to work involving housing transactions

The Residential and Commercial Property Information System introduces changes to the processes of housing transactions, as well as to the operations of banks and real estate agents. Banks and real estate agents must first check whether a housing company is entered in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System, and whether the seller of an apartment holds a paper share certificate or an electronic registration of ownership.

The bank and the customer agree on pledges as before. If the ownership has been registered electronically, the pledge is entered in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System, and it replaces the act of handing over the paper share certificate to the lender.

Restrictions can also be entered in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System that can restrict the shareholder’s right to use the apartment or transfer its ownership. Situations like this include enforcement and the widow’s right of possession. Restrictions are entered in an official capacity or by application.

More information for banks (in Finnish)

More information for real estate agents (in Finnish)

More information on using an owner apartment as security for a loan

See the application forms for the Residential and Commercial Property Information System (in Finnish)

Information for a variety of uses

Initially, the information services of the Residential and Commercial Property Information System are provided as printouts. The list of shares and apartment information are available as printouts.

The list of shares printout includes the basic information of the housing company, its apartments and their owners. The apartment information printout includes information on a single apartment – the basic information on the housing company, the apartment and its owners, pledges and restrictions. These printouts are required in connection with housing transactions, for example.

You can order a printout from the customer service of the National Land Survey of Finland for a fee. The information service is also available via interfaces for professionals who require the information in their work.
Printouts containing personal data are also provided if there is a compelling reason to access the information.

Read more on the apartment information printout and see examples (in Finnish)

Read more on the list of shares printout and see examples (in Finnish)

Order printouts

Read more about the interface services for apartment information (in Finnish)

Further development ongoing

The Residential and Commercial Property Information System is a nationwide databank containing the basic information of housing companies, apartments and their owners and restrictions. The information is used by housing companies, shareholders, authorities and businesses. 

The electronic registry facilitates housing transactions and property management, for example. It also means that shareholders do not need to worry about losing their paper share certificate. When the list of shares is transferred to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System, the housing company no longer needs to worry about keeping it up to date.   

NLS provides professionals with interfaces that can be used to access the Residential and Commercial Property Information System’s information. In addition to the interfaces already in use, interfaces for submitting applications and granting authorisation electronically will be developed. With the interfaces, private sector operators can develop new services for their customers. 

In the future, the information content of the Residential and Commercial Property Information System will be increased. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is responsible for the system’s further development, and the administrative information of housing companies and improving their availability are a key focus area. The development work particularly focuses on solving issues related to the provision of housing loan information from the positive credit register. The aim is to enable data transfer between different information systems efficiently and uniformly.

Read more about the further development on the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s website (in Finnish)

 

Do you own an apartment in a housing company, or does your work include housing transactions?

Services for shareholders of housing companies can be found on the National Land Survey of Finland’s website, and services for professionals can be found on the osakehuoneistorekisteri.fi website.