You need a queue number to apply for a right-of-occupancy home
Queue numbers issued by ARA are valid nationwide, so you can use them to apply for a home anywhere in Finland. The number costs 9.20€ and is valid for two years or until you use the number to make a right-of-occupancy agreement. Applying for a queue number does not commit you to anything.
You can apply for a queue number alone or jointly with other applicants. If you want to apply for a joint queue number, one applicant should fill in the application and add the details of the co-applicants. Please note that the applicant for a queue number must be aged 18 or over. Applicants may only have one valid queue number at a time.
You do not need a queue number if you only want to move to a different home within the same residential property.
However, you need a valid queue number if you want to move from one Vaso home to another that is not in the same residential property.
Remember to fill in the housing application as well.
ARA’s answers to the most frequently asked questions about the nationwide queue number.
Applying for a queue number
You can apply for a queue number alone or jointly with other applicants. If you want to apply for a joint queue number, one applicant should fill in the application and add the details of the co-applicants. Please note that the applicant for a queue number must be aged 18 or over. Applicants may only have one valid queue number at a time.
You can also apply for a queue number using a form on paper. You can download the application form from the ara.fi website and print it. The form is also available at the Vaso office. Submit the form to ARA by post or email:
Postal address: ARA, PO Box 30, 15141 Lahti
Email: asumisoikeus@ara.fi
The application form includes instructions on how to pay for the queue number. Please enclose a receipt for your payment with your application form.
Paper forms are processed in the order of arrival. The quickest way to get a queue number is to apply online.
You cannot order a queue number by phone.
Why do I need a queue number?
Right-of-occupancy homes are allocated on the basis of right-of-occupancy queue numbers. When the application deadline has passed, we will offer the home to the applicant who takes priority. Applicants moving from one home to another within the same residential property take precedence. If no applicants wish to move within the same property, we will offer the home to the applicant with the lowest valid queue number.
You are not obliged to accept the home – you can decline it if it does not seem like a suitable home for you. Declining an offer will not affect your application process or your chance of getting a new home. Your application will remain valid.
Payment and receiving a number
You can pay for the queue number online when you submit your application. When the payment is successful, you will receive a queue number. The service will display your queue number once the queue number register has issued it. You will also receive a message notifying you of the queue number via the Suomi.fi messaging function, either by email or letter, depending on your Suomi.fi settings. If you choose the text message option in your application, you will also receive your queue number by text message.
Fill in the housing application when you have received your queue number.
Check your queue number or update your details
You can check your queue number by logging in to the ARA queue number register. The register displays your queue number and its validity, as well as a summary of your queue number application.
You can update your details and the contact details of the other number holders on your queue number application. You can also modify the details in your queue number application concerning your family members and housing preferences.
New number holders cannot be added to an existing queue number.
You can only remove yourself as a holder of the queue number by relinquishing your queue number. If you want to relinquish your number completely, every holder of the queue number must relinquish their holding in it.
Relinquish a queue number
If you want to relinquish your queue number before it expires, you can do so in the queue number register. The queue number will expire automatically when the validity period ends, so you do not need to explicitly relinquish it unless you have any other reason for doing so.
Please note that you can only relinquish a queue number on your own behalf. If there are other holders of the queue number, each of them must relinquish their own claim to it.
It may become necessary to relinquish a queue number due to divorce, for example. In this case, the former couple may no longer want a joint queue number, and one of them may remain as the holder of the queue number. The other one must then relinquish their claim to the queue number. After this, the number will remain valid for the other holder in line until the original deadline. Alternatively, both parties can relinquish their joint queue number, and each can apply for a new queue number.
ARA can answer any questions you have about queue numbers:
Email: asumisoikeus@ara.fi
ARA’s free phone service is open from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and from midday to 2 pm on Wednesdays.
Tel: +358 29 525 0990