Finland’s 3,500 real estate agents are in the forefront of using the National Land Survey of Finland’s (NLS) Residential and Commercial Property Information System in housing transactions. The information required for transactions, including ownership, pledge and restriction information, can now be found in the system. Finding up-to-date information in a single place accelerates real estate agents’ work and transactions.
‘The Residential and Commercial Property Information System helps modernise apartment purchases as paper share certificates can be gradually eliminated. The system already makes it easier for estate agents to work, not to mention the future when the system contains all apartment information,‘ says Tomi Keto-Tokoi, chairperson of the board at the Finnish Real Estate Agents’ Association.
Estate agents are already familiar with the system
Real estate agents have embraced the new system as part of their work. Jyväskylä-based Erika Enberg from Kiinteistönvälitys Enberg Oy uses the system smoothly.
‘I check the system to see if an apartment has an electronic ownership registration and take owner apartment printouts.
According to Enberg, transactions have become smoother, as share certificates no longer need to be searched. If an apartment’s share certificate is in electronic format in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System, the digital housing transaction process can be used.
The electronic registration of ownership in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System replaces paper share certificates in apartment transactions and as collateral for loan, accelerating the process of apartment transactions.
‘The delivery of the documents required for transactions to the building manager played a significant role before the system. Owner apartment printouts obtained from the Residential and Commercial Property Information System provide comprehensive information about apartment owners, as well as any pledges and restrictions related to apartments,’ says real estate agent Tomi Alapartanen from Ala LKV Oy based in the Sea Lapland region.
Real estate agent Terhi Heikkilä from OP-koti Oulu is pleased that all information can be conveniently found in a single place.
‘Retrieving data from the Residential and Commercial Property Information System has really made my job easier,’ she says.
Although the system has been deployed well, it is sometimes necessary to resort to old ways. There may be incomplete information in the system, or new apartment owners may not have been registered yet.
Real estate agent Marko Palhomaa from Aitoasunnot Mikkeli says that although the Residential and Commercial Property Information System supports real estate agents’ work, they still need to have a good command of the former transaction process and the digital world, as well as a hybrid of them, to ensure smooth processes.
‘The goals set for the system and its effectiveness are noble and honourable. In practice, it does not yet work in full, and we haven’t completely got rid of all the manual steps,’ he says.
Information about 2.5 million apartment owners is available in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System
The Residential and Commercial Property Information System is home to information about a total of 2.5 million Finnish apartment owners. Of all apartments, 26 per cent currently have an electronic ownership registration.
In the summer of 2025, housing companies will start to transfer their administrative information to the system. As the data content in the system grows, real estate agents and banks will have access to comparable information about the condition of housing companies and the size of the maintenance backlog directly in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. The Residential and Commercial Property Information System is a national data register used by several parties in society. Real estate agents, building managers, banks and the authorities have access to administrative information about housing companies in a single place.
Further information
Janne Murtoniemi, Director, Registration Process, National Land Survey of Finland, +358 40 710 8862,
firstname.lastname@nls.fi
For apartment owners https://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/en/apartments
Administrative housing company information https://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/en/taloyhtioiden-hallinnolliset-tiedot