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Changes to lease 

A change in the life situation can turn anyone’s housing arrangements upside down. In certain situations, you can transfer your lease agreement to a family member, give your apartment to another person for a fixed period of time, sublease your apartment for a short period of time or have a subtenant live with you in your apartment.

Change situations related to residents and lease agreements in brief: 

  • Subletting is when you assign up to half of your leased apartment to someone else and collect rent for it. You will still be the main tenant of the apartment and responsible for paying the rent and fulfilling the other obligations of the main tenant.  
  • Assigning your apartment to another person means that you move temporarily to another city and assign your apartment to them until further notice. You can do this if you have a reason for moving to another city. You will still be the main tenant of the apartment and responsible for paying the rent and fulfilling the other obligations of the main tenant. Heka must be notified if you temporarily assign your apartment to another person. 
  • Subleasing the apartment means that you sublease your apartment to another person for a short period of time when, for example, you go on a holiday. This requires permission from Heka. You will still be the main tenant of the apartment and responsible for paying the rent and fulfilling the other obligations of the main tenant. 
  • Transferring the leasehold means that you, as the main tenant, transfer the leasehold of your apartment to a family member living in the apartment. The family member then becomes the new main tenant and assumes the obligation to pay rent. Heka must be notified of the transfer of the leasehold and will review the conditions for it.  

Learn more about the conditions and guidelines for when things change, below.  

Subletting part of your apartment 

Subletting is when a tenant hands a part of a rented apartment over to another person for use and collects rent from this person. You can sublet the apartment you have leased from Heka under certain legal conditions.  

Conditions for subletting  

You can sublet up to half of the number of rooms in your apartment. 

The rent you charge your subtenant can be no more than the rent (€/m²) you pay Heka. The rent of your subtenant is determined by how much of your apartment you have sublet. This means that the subtenant’s rent is no more than half of your monthly rent.  

Register your subtenant as a resident at Heka’s Resident Portal (Service requests – Submit a notice of moving in) when the subtenant moves in. Keeping the housing register up to date is important, as our maintenance staff will only open doors to persons marked in the housing register if they have, for instance, lost or forgotten their keys.  

You will still be the main tenant of the apartment. You are always responsible to Heka for the housing of your subtenant, including the payment of rent. 

Duration of subletting 

You must make a separate letting agreement with your subtenant. The subletting agreement may be valid until further notice or for a fixed term. 

Your agreement with your subtenant is tied to your main lease agreement. If your lease agreement with Heka ends, your subtenant’s lease will also end at the same time. 

Either party to the subletting agreement may terminate an open-ended agreement in accordance with the notice periods. The notice periods of subletting agreements are shorter than the notice periods of regular lease agreements. 

A fixed-term subletting agreement ends when agreement expires. 

Example: Matti is the main tenant in a three-room Heka apartment. Matti can sublet up to half of the rooms in his apartment, i.e. one room. Matti makes a subletting agreement with Anssi. Matti is still the main tenant of the apartment. Matti is also responsible to Heka for Anssi’s housing. If Anssi’s housing causes disturbances, the possible warning is directed at Matti. If Anssi does not pay Matti his share of the rent, this is not a reason for Matti not to pay the rent for the entire apartment to Heka; Heka will collect the rent arrears from Matti. If Matti’s lease expires, Anssi’s subletting agreement will also expire. 

Assigning your apartment temporarily to another person 

As a tenant, you have the right to temporarily assign apartment to another person on certain grounds. The right to a temporary transfer is created when you need to move temporarily to another municipality for 

  • a job 
  • studies 
  • a medical condition that requires treatment 
  • or other similar grounds such as military or non-military service. 

A family member residing in another municipality is not an acceptable reason for a temporary transfer.  

The maximum length for an uninterrupted temporary transfer is two years at a time. During a long-term lease, there may be several two-year periods.  

As the main tenant, you will always be party to the main lease agreement with Heka. As the main tenant, you are responsible for paying the rent and fulfilling the other housing obligations, even during the temporary transfer. The temporary resident can pay the rent directly to Heka or to you, but this must always be agreed with Heka. 

The rent you charge the temporary resident may not be higher than the rent you pay Heka.  

Remember that you are responsible for paying the rent and fulfilling the other housing obligations, even during the temporary transfer. For example, if the temporary resident’s living disrupts others, the possible warning will be directed at you. 

Subleasing an apartment 

Once you have permission from Heka, you can sublease your apartment up to 31 days, once per calendar year. Subleasing for a longer period of time or without Heka’s permission is prohibited. In such cases, Heka may terminate the lease agreement. 

As the main tenant, you are responsible for paying the rent and fulfilling the other housing obligations, even during the sublease.  

Transferring the leasehold 

Transferring the leasehold means that, as the main tenant of your apartment, you transfer your lease agreement, the right of possession over your apartment and the related obligations to another person. This person then becomes the new main tenant and assumes the obligation to pay rent. 

Conditions for leasehold transfer 

As the main tenant, you can transfer the leasehold of your apartment to

  • your spouse or common-law spouse,  
  • a child belonging to your family,  
  • your parent or  
  • your spouse’s parent.  

Leaseholds of Heka apartments cannot be transferred to anyone except the persons listed above.  

Before you notify Heka of the leasehold transfer, the individual to whom the leasehold is transferred must live in the apartment with you, i.e. be listed as an occupant in the housing register. 

The new main tenant must be one of the family members listed above, otherwise the leasehold cannot be transferred. Heka reviews each case.