Permit to buy or sell a dwelling

When in your role as guardian, you are selling or buying shares in a housing company, right-of-occupancy housing or holiday shares owned by your client alone or in part or as a stakeholder in an estate, you need a permit to do so. Buying or selling garage shares or a parking space does not require a permit if the share does not involve personal liability for the company's debts.

We recommend that you apply for a permit for the sale of a dwelling in advance. However, you need a draft of the deed for your application, so the details of the sale must be settled at the time you submit your application. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency can also retrospectively approve a real estate transaction if it is in the interest of your client. However, the transaction will not obligate your client before a permit has been issued.

Before making any decisions concerning the tasks you are charged with, ask for your client's opinion, if it is important to do so and the hearing can be arranged with significant difficulty. However, a hearing will not be necessary, if your client is unable to understand the meaning or significance of the action.

This is what to do

Fill in the application and submit it and its attachments to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

Permit application

The processing of your permit application will be faster if you submit all the necessary attachments at the same time with your application. Where necessary, we will ask you for supplementary data.
We will send any request for supplementary data electronically to the Suomi.fi Messages service or via email, by post as a letter or by phone.
Submit the signed and scanned application and its attachments to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency by email or by post or take it personally to your nearest Digital and Population Data Services Agency service location.

Required documents

In addition to the permit application form the following documents must be appended:

Deed of sale or draft of deed of sale
A current assessment of value by a licenced real estate agent or other expert or another reliable report or assessment on the value of the dwelling.
A building manager certificate
When purchasing shares, a report on how funding will be arranged.
If a party to the transaction is an estate, an estate deed with a shareholder record, or if no confirmation has been applied for, an estate deed without an account of family relationships. If we need further reports on family relationships, we will request these separately.
The deceased person's potential will, including its service of notice or certificate of validity as well as any possible prenuptial agreement, if an estate is a party to the transaction.
With regard to right-of-occupancy housing, the right-of-occupancy agreement, the transfer price calculation and the waiver notification
If your client is a minor aged 15 or over or an adult whose functional capacity is not limited and they understand the significance of the matter, the client’s written opinion on the transaction.

Check list

Consider whether it is in your client's interest to buy / sell the dwelling.
Discuss the matter with your client and find out their opinion on the matter if the client is able to understand the significance of the matter.
Note that the purchase price must correspond to the fair value of the apartment.
Check that you have all the necessary attachments for the permit application. The attachments to the application may be copies.
Make sure that you are not disqualified from acting as a guardian in a real estate transaction. If you yourself or your close relative is a party in the transaction, you will need to apply for a substitute guardian.

Price

A permit decision costs EUR 184.

Processing period

The average processing time is two months. As a rule, cases are processed in their order of arrival. In individual cases, the processing time may be less or more than this depending on the size and complexity of the matter. Processing times are longer when not all necessary reports have been included as attachments to the application.

Links to laws related to the matter

Guardianship Services Act Guardianship (in Finnish)

Services prices: Ministry of Finance Decree on Fees Charged for Digital and Population Data Services Agency in 2020 (in Finnish)

Frequently asked questions

In order for us to be able to process your application, we will need a draft of the document to which your application refers. For example, if you are applying for a permit for the sale of a dwelling, the application must be accompanied by a draft of the deed of sale showing all the terms and conditions of the sale (e.g. seller, buyer, purchase price and its payment).

The Digital and Population Information Agency will not grant a permit for such a transaction. Price undercutting is considered in part as giving a gift, and a guardian may not gift their client’s property. If you have signed the deed before applying for a permit, your client is not obligated to the transaction. As a guardian, you are liable to compensate your client for any possible financial damage your actions have caused.

The client’s opinion is determined in connection with the permit application, when an adult client understands the significance and meaning of the matter or the client is a minor who is 15 years old or older. The client can present their opinion into the section reserved for this on the permit application or in free form. Where necessary, we will ask the client to provide more information on the matter.

A guardian cannot relinquish right of possession on behalf of their client free of charge. A monetary value be calculated for the right of possession, which the widow(er) will receive as compensation for relinquishing right of possession. You can use the tax administration’s calculation formula in your calculations. You need not apply for a permit for relinquishing right of possession.

You will only need a permit for significant actions. For example, you do not need to apply for a permit to sell the movable property in your client's home or their car. If your client is able to understand transactions, you can speak with them and come to an agreement on what you will do with their possessions. Otherwise, you must yourself assess the most appropriate way for your client to take care of their possessions.

Guardianship Services contact information

Email

When sending an email, please use the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s secure email to ensure that your information is sent securely. Select [email protected] as the recipient in the secure mail

Send the email as a secure email

Postal address

Digital and Population Data Services Agency / Guardianship, PO Box 1001, FI-02151 Espoo

With the exception of property inventories, annual statements and final statements, you can send all post to the Guardianship Service to the address listed above. The three separately specified reports must be mailed to the postal address of the service location responsible for their monitoring.

Telephone number

The telephone service is open 9.00-15.00 on weekdays

Service number +358 295 536 256

Service locations

Addresses of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s service location