Moving to Finland - lots of questions :)

[Wish Fairy]

My husband has been asked to move to Finland (from the UK) for work, so we're seriously considering it, but I have lot of questions - some of them stupid

- We'd like to live in a house not an apartment - the company will pay a significant proportion of our housing, but I'd like to know the approximate cost (or range of costs) of monthly rental for a 3 bedroom house around the Helsinki, Vantaa or Espoo areas
- We will be bringing our dog (border collie cross) - are there any things I need to consider regarding his adjustment to much colder weather ? (see what I mean about stupid ). Also - we need to find a rental that accepts pets - is this as difficult as it can be in UK ?
- I'm curious to know if the heating costs in Finland are comparable to those in the UK - do we need to budget for higher fuel costs or in some cases may it be included in the rent ?
- I will get free language tuition (around 30 hours) -how do you suggest making the most of these hours? I'm ok with languages,but Finnish looks very difficult indeed and I'd like to be able to "get by" at least, since I think my husband will really struggle with this part
- I currently work as a self employed business consultant with a Ltd company registered in the UK, am I able to work "from" Finland (even if I had to travel to work outside of Finland) and retain all my billing through my UK company
- Are there any expat spouses groups meeting on a regular basis in these areas? I suspect that there are a lot of expats working nearby for international companies and if I can't work it would be good to be able to meet people
- We plan to transfer in August, I've been reading that this is not a good time to look for a house. We are considering trying to find a house during June, but again, I am concerned that as summer approaches this willbe more difficult than looking in April for example - is this correct?

[Rosamunda]

If your husband's company is willing to fork out for a relocation agent then here are two that I can recommend:

http://www.finlandrelocation.com/en/company
http://www.transite.fi/

The advantage of using a relo agent is that they seem to get their hands on all the best rentals, and the landlords generally like working with them because they know there are companies behind the tenants who guarantee the rent gets paid on time.

There have been threads on here about bringing dogs into the country so try the search engine. I don't think the cold is a big issue, I have two flat-coated retrievers and they love the snow. When it's -25 outside (eg last weekend) they just sit indoors and look out of the window. Yesterday we were at the cabin, I went for a walk with my snow shoes for an hour or so and they were more than happy to come with me.

30 hours language tuition won't get you anywhere. To be honest, if you're only here for a couple of years it's hardly worth bothering unless you have a cultural interest in languages. You don't need Finnish if you live in Helsinki/Espoo. Or, put differently, the 30h tuition isn't enough to make a difference on what you can/can't do. If te company will pay, then I would start off with a 30h one-to-one crash course (ie individual private tuition) and then you can always carry on in a group class - they are not so expensive.

Women's groups: the http://www.bwa-helsinki.com/ meets once a month for coffee at the British Embassy and they have other trips, socials etc during the month. There are other groups but the BWA is the main one for Brits.

[interleukin]

To add to what penelope wrote about the relocation companies: Also if your husband's company is big and well known, getting a rental contract made through them can really help as opposed to making the contract yourself. You could ask what arrangements can be made.

[Wish Fairy]

Thank you both
I'm pretty sure the dog will be fine by the sound of it.

Good advice on language and relo agent sounds the way to go.

[Upphew]

- We'd like to live in a house not an apartment - the company will pay a significant proportion of our housing, but I'd like to know the approximate cost (or range of costs) of monthly rental for a 3 bedroom house around the Helsinki, Vantaa or Espoo areas

http://www.vuokraovi.com

- We will be bringing our dog (border collie cross) - are there any things I need to consider regarding his adjustment to much colder weather ? (see what I mean about stupid ). Also - we need to find a rental that accepts pets - is this as difficult as it can be in UK ?

First check the rules about importing the dog: http://www.evira.fi/portal/en/animals/i ... nd_export/
Inside the temperatures are probably higher than in Britain and outside you will be with the dog, I think that it will be you who has problems with weather, not the dog.

- I'm curious to know if the heating costs in Finland are comparable to those in the UK - do we need to budget for higher fuel costs or in some cases may it be included in the rent ?

Rentals should have heating costs included, unless the house is heated by electricity, so definitely watch out for that.

- I will get free language tuition (around 30 hours) -how do you suggest making the most of these hours? I'm ok with languages,but Finnish looks very difficult indeed and I'd like to be able to "get by" at least, since I think my husband will really struggle with this part

Oh boy... learn some phrases. You'll get by with English and there are people who have lived here for years and who don't speak Finnish. Check kielikoulu (language school in Finnish) section in this board.

- I currently work as a self employed business consultant with a Ltd company registered in the UK, am I able to work "from" Finland (even if I had to travel to work outside of Finland) and retain all my billing through my UK company

Sure, just remember to handle the taxes right. http://www.tax.fi/en-US/Companies_and_o ... in_Finland http://www.infopankki.fi/en-GB/into/

- We plan to transfer in August, I've been reading that this is not a good time to look for a house. We are considering trying to find a house during June, but again, I am concerned that as summer approaches this willbe more difficult than looking in April for example - is this correct?

Housing problem affects more the small apartments near the center of Helsinki. Your biggest problem will be that you want to rent a house and there won't be such a big selection to choose from anyways.

[Wish Fairy]

Thanks a lot Upphew

I think you are right about the dog, LoL

Good to know that heating is mostly included though! Just need to find a good location to live now. It's hard to do without visiting. I think we will make a trip in April / May time and try to have a good look around.

Cheers for all the help

[Jukka Aho]

Good to know that heating is mostly included though! Just need to find a good location to live now. It's hard to do without visiting.

For what it's worth, you could check out the general looks of the neighborhood in Google Streetview. As for finding out about the local services, this post might give you some pointers.

For Finland in a nutshell... try here. ;)

I guess you're already familiar with websites such as Oikotie, Etuovi etc. so no need to mention them?

[Rip]

Local housing (and tax) policy has been such that it has made it worth while for almost anybody able to buy their own apartment or house to do so. As a consequence - excluding city rental market with "social consideration", the rental market for larger apartments and even more so for houses in capital area is thin (you got already one link to browse with the help of vocabulary in the sticky), because almost all the locals that would have need for such a place would consider buying one in the long term more economical - . Three bedrooms by the way equals 4 rooms the way these a reported here (3 bedrooms + living room).

If you rent an apartment then heating would be something covered by the monthly maintenance fee paid by the owner (effectively of course included in the rent). For a house you'd be more likely to need to pay the heating cost yourself separately.

One thing to take into account would be that most families (having two working adults) living capital area and in a house probably have two cars. Apartments you'd much more likely to find in locations were depending on public transportation (and to some extent your own two feet) primarily or even exclusively is a more viable option.

[Wish Fairy]

Thanks Rip.

Buying is out of the question for us as it invalidates any housing allowance we will get from the company, but it does explain why there is such small choice on the housing rental front.

I think we would not rule out an apartment altogether. We'll definitely give it some thought as it could turn out to be more practical.

[Kutittaa]

Not much to say as I don't know most of the answers to your questions.

1. It's hard as hell to find an apartment let alone a house whilst outside of the country... and yeah August is a bad time, but pretty much any time in the year is a bad time.
2. A house in the Helsinki-Vantaa-Espoo area is going to be considerably more expensive than an apartment and the rates/taxes will be quite high. Especially a 3 bedroom place, but hey that's expensive by my standards, dunno about others. Can't give you any estimates though.
3. Your dog should be fine, just take care of it and if it starts shivering then obviously it can't handle the cold. Dogs here, are, for the most part, obviously quite fluffy for good reason

Good luck!

[Rip]

Two points that came to my mind: A) August is bad for getting small apartments because of students, maybe with the larger ones like the one you're looking for, this seasonal variation isn't as big.

B) Not all landlords want to rent their apartment or house for dog owners.

For good location you could even get tips here (if you first tell where you'd be working (and plans regarding transportation)). But getting the contract done without living here and not using some paid service will be difficult.

[Upphew]

B) Not all landlords want to rent their apartment or house for dog owners.

For good location you could even get tips here (if you first tell where you'd be working (and plans regarding transportation)). But getting the contract done without living here and not using some paid service will be difficult.

Some landlords might prefer Finnish tenants too, although people renting houses are probably targeting more foreigners... or it is just foreigners that rent houses.

[Pursuivant]

The public transport thing is what I would be looking out for. Now unless you're from Scotland you probably think a country with 3ft of snow grinds to a halt. Well, it doesn't. So also renting a house, its you who needs to remove that 3ft of snow off the driveway and drive to work - Every morning. So if you live somewhere a bit off the beaten path and the council plough hasnt done your road... Being "snowed in" is an excuse only after 3ft... And of course when the council plough comes it blocks your driveway and you need to shovel that two feet of solid ice...

Of course as living in a house you can afford to pay for a caretaker, but good servants are so hard to keep. If you end up in a terrace, they usually have a communal obligation (and endless bickering) or then a paid caretaker company. Terraces are usually " flats", actually these days houses get built as " flats" as well. So its then the "company" taking care and responsible for the maintenance, but the share owners pay higher maintenance.

Heating... used to be majority oil, some gas, now they got heat pumps, wood pellets, you name it. Electric heating costs up the wazoo.

[sujitsu]

Welcome to Finland! I can't answer all of your questions, but I will try to help you a bit

Dogs: I think they will be fine in the cold weather - I have seen people walking Chihuahuas in -15C! The cold sounds bad on paper, but in Helsinki area it will always be somewhat tolerable if your dog is at least a bit furry House-wise, it seems much more common for Finns to have pets, so I imagine that landlords are more relaxed about it than in the UK. I live in an apartment block full of people renting and I always seem to be stepping over small dogs in the hallway...

Heating costs: I think that almost certainly these will be less than in the UK. If you live in an apartment, it's most likely that that you will be part of a communal heating system. So, you will pay a set amount every month (maybe for a big apartment ~€30+), but you will have all your heating and hot water sorted. Not only that, but your house will actually stay warm due to double-double glazed windows and good insulation (unlike UK!). In my opinion, this is the best thing about living in Finland!

House-hunting: I would definitely do this through a Finn, because the system here is a little bit different from the UK. Someone mentioned in this thread that people are reluctant to rent to foreigners... there may be some truth in this, perhaps through a fear of dealing with non-Finns (language and culture wise). I found that people's attitude changed if I attended viewings with a Finnish work-colleague, who could somehow vouch that I was trustworthy and responsible member of society (I work at a university and look really young, so they just assume I'm a student). It is useful to learn how to make your job-title in Finnish for this reason People say that August is the worst time for househunting, but this is mainly because it is when the students learn when they have been accepted to university. So this will be less of a problem if you are looking for something in a non-student area.

Learning Finnish: You don't need it, and you won't learn enough in 30 hours to construct a basic sentence. Most people speak English and all foreigners can get by without it. BUT. I HIGHLY recommend attending classes. They are hard and a bit boring, but understanding just small pieces of Finnish on a sign, or catching the gist of a conversation will make life here much easier. I didn't learn any for my first six months and I felt so alienated from society, I was a bit miserable. Now I take classes, and understanding just small things on a sign or on a tannoy or in a shop makes life much better, and I can tell that Finns really appreciate it when you make an effort to try out a few words here and there!

Anyway, a bit long winded but I hope that some of what I have said helps. And good luck with your move

[Rosamunda]

2. A house in the Helsinki-Vantaa-Espoo area is going to be considerably more expensive than an apartment and the rates/taxes will be quite high. Especially a 3 bedroom place, but hey that's expensive by my standards, dunno about others. Can't give you any estimates though.

There are no rates/taxes as such here, it's a completely different system to, eg the UK. Municipal tax is deducted from your salary, so it's based on what you earn - nothing to do with how big your house is or whether you rent/buy.

Houses are more expensive to rent than apartments but that's because, generally speaking, they are bigger. A BIG apartment in the centre of Helsinki (eg over 100m2) would probably cost more to rent than a house of a similar size in the suburbs. As always, it depends on the location.

Just a reminder, Finnish house rentals come with fully-equipped kitchens and usually have fitted wardrobes throughout. So don't bring the kitchen sink and/or all the wardrobes etc because you won't need them and they probably won't fit anyway. In fact, king-size beds can be problematic - we couldn't open the balcony doors in our bedroom in our first rental...