New Act on Residential Leases will come into force on 1 October 2026 – these changes will take effect

Read more about the amendments on the Ministry of Justice website (oikeusministerio.fi)  

Smoking will be banned in apartments, on balconies, in shared facilities and in yards 

The amended Act will introduce a smoking ban that applies to both new lease agreements and those entered into before the new Act comes into force. The smoking ban applies both to the interiors of apartments and to outdoor areas belonging to the apartments. Previously, smoking had to be explicitly banned in the lease agreement; but from 1 October 2026, smoking will always be banned, as a general rule.  

As such, all Heka properties will be non-smoking locations as from 1 October. This means that smoking is prohibited in apartments, on balconies and terraces, and in yards.  

Heka has already had a no-smoking policy in public and shared areas and in the yards, with the exception of any designated smoking areas.  

The smoking ban also applies to e-cigarettes and plant-based products intended for smoking, such as herbal cigarettes and herbal blends used in water pipes. 

Tenants will have to notify Heka of the people living in the apartment 

Moving forward, the tenant must notify the lessor in writing of the number of occupants and the grounds for their right to live in the apartment (it is their own home, they are living with a spouse or a family member, or they are an authorised subtenant). You can submit the notification via OmaHeka, among other channels. 

For adult occupants, you must provide their name, date of birth and contact details. The same obligation to notify the lessor also applies to reporting changes when someone is moving out or moving in, for example. 

A lease may be terminated on other compelling grounds 

The grounds on which a lessor may terminate a lease agreement will be extended so that the agreement may be terminated if there is any other compelling reason. This provision makes it easier for the lessor to exercise their discretion in a situation where there appears to be a compelling reason for terminating the lease, but none of the previous grounds for termination set out in the Act (such as disruptive behaviour or poor maintenance of the apartment) clearly apply to the situation. 

Examples of such other compelling reasons include breaching the smoking ban or a tenant committing a serious act of violence in the apartment, in the immediate vicinity of the apartment, the shared areas, or the building, to the extent that the domestic peace and sense of security of neighbours are at risk. 

Moving forward, a lease may also be terminated without notice on the grounds of poor maintenance of the apartment, if the tenant has behaved in a highly reprehensible manner. 

Clarity regarding situations where a tenant passes away 

The amendments will clarify the lessor’s actions and responsibilities in the event of a tenant’s death.  

If the deceased tenant had leased the apartment on their own, the lease will end automatically without notice. The lease will end two months after the end of the month during which the lessor was informed of the tenant’s death. If another party to the lease or a member of their family lived in the apartment with the deceased, they may be entitled to continue the lease. In such cases, the lessor must be notified in the manner and within the time limit required by law. 

The lessor must attempt to notify the estate of the deceased or one of its beneficiaries of the termination of the lease. If none of the beneficiaries of the estate can be contacted, a notice of termination of the lease will be sent to the apartment. The lessor is entitled to remove any property left in the apartment to another location. The lessor may also dispose of any waste. 

Other changes 

The amendments will also bring about changes to things such as the transfer of leases and notice periods. 

• Moving forward, the transfer of a lease to a family member (spouse, child or parent) will require that the transferee has lived in the apartment continuously for at least one year. 
• Warnings, cancellations and notices of termination may be served electronically, provided that this has been agreed on between the tenant and the lessor. Lease agreements coming into force from the start of October 2026 will include a new clause setting out the arrangements for electronic notifications during the tenancy.
• Following the amendments, the notice period for the lessor’s part will be shorter. Moving forward, the notice period is three months if the tenancy has lasted less than two years prior to the notice. The notice period is four months if the tenancy has lasted more than two years prior to the notice. 
• The moving day is the end date of the lease agreement. Heka has been using this moving day policy since the start of 2022.  
• Moving forward, the lessor may enter the apartment even if a suitable time cannot be agreed on for reasons related to the tenant.

Heka’s new tenancy agreement template will come into effect on 1 October 2026 

Heka’s standard lease agreement template is being updated to reflect the amendments to the Act on Residential Leases. The new lease agreement template will be used for leases coming into force from 1 October 2026.  

The new template will also be used in the lease agreement harmonisation project, moving forward.