Frequently Asked Questions

When acting on behalf of a death estate, the parties to the estate should apply for the registration of the ownership of the apartment owned by the estate. Enter the contact information of the death estate’s contact person in the registration application. There may be several contact persons. If there are several parties, you will require a power of attorney from the other parties if they do not participate in the shareholders’ meeting.  

If no clarification of ownership has been registered, the parties to the death estate will not be shown in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. Parties to a death estate can submit their contact information. Please note that you need to prove that you are party to a death estate by presenting the estate inventory when participating in the shareholders’ meeting. You will also require a power of attorney from the other parties to the death estate if they do not participate in the meeting.  
 

Request a power of attorney from the seller and ask them to also send the invitation to you.  

Submit your contact information to the housing company immediately after the transaction so that it has access to the information before your ownership has been registered in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System.  

Start by contacting the building manager to identify whether you can receive your invitation by email and whether the housing company has your email address. If the housing company does not have your email address, you can submit it by using the form. 

You have the right to copy, store and print out individual maps for private use and for a thesis or a final year Project. More information about terms of use.

It is worth completing the measurement despite the wrong-clicking and make the corrections only after that. You may accept the measurement by double-clicking or by clicking on the last measuring point again. After this, you may easily edit the measurement by clicking on and dragging any point to the right place. The distance or area is updated on the fly according to the changes.

In the search field, you may after the place name or address write the name of the municipality separated with a comma, for example ”Mustapuro, Kuusamo”.

One tool is active until you select another tool. You can also disable the selected tool by re-clicking its icon.

Submit geographic coordinates into the coordinate tool, including needed punctuation marks, that is degrees, minutes and seconds.

You may replace the degree sign ° with the letter d, e.g. 64d 20.356'

Coordinates in different coordinate reference systems are presented in various formats. The following are examples of coordinates used in the service and their presentation formats.

Plane coordinates and geographic coordinates in the ETRS89 coordinate reference system

Plane coordinates and geographic coordinates in the National Grid Coordinate System (KKJ)

The address search in MapSite is based on address data derived from the NLS topographic data system. The address in the dataset is a calculated address based on the line of the road, it is not the official address of the building or real estate unit.

The most precise scales of the background map material show the address numbers according to the Building and Dwelling Register maintained by the Population Register Centre. This data is maintained by the municipalities.

There can be inaccuracies in the location data of the map, because there are no exact coordinates for all boundary markers. The boundaries on the Cadastral index map are approximate. The boundaries are shown in more detail in cadastral survey documents and the terrain.

MapSite always shows the most recent aerial photo. The service receives the aerial photos through the WMTS interface. The interface does not make it possible for the information about photographing year to accompany the image. The index shows the photographing year (in Finnish)

In geoportal Paikkatietoikkuna you can watch historical aerial photos and see their photographing year.

Printouts from the Residential and Commercial Property Information System can be bought via the National Land Survey of Finland. Professional operators receive printouts through electronic services.

Check the price list for apartments.

The list of shares includes basic information about the housing company, its apartments and their owners.

Learn more about the list of shares and view sample printouts (in Finnish)

The printout of owner apartments contains basic information about an individual share group (for example, an apartment), as well as ownership, pledge and restriction information registered in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. 

Learn more about the printout of owner apartments and view sample printouts (in Finnish)

It is possible to register several pledges and proportional pledges for the apartment. This means the apartment can be pledged to several different banks.

The pledgee bank applies for the registration of the pledge from the National Land Survey of Finland. The owner’s consent is required to register the pledge. Please also note that the pledgee will determine the value of the property and decide whether the property can be used as collateral.

The registration of a pledge can only be applied for by the pledgee, for example, a bank. The pledge is applied for using a form (in Finnish). 

Registering a pledge in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System requires the shareholder to have an electronic registration of ownership.

If your share certificate is held by a bank as collateral for a loan, you can authorise the bank to apply for the registration of a pledge on your behalf.

The pledgee (for example, a bank) can apply for a pledge either for the entire value of the share or in euros, limited to the desired amount. A fixed-term pledge is also possible.

The purpose of the restriction is to provide information about the housing company’s ongoing RS procedure and prevent the registration of entries and restrictions other than those from the custodian of safekeeping documents. The RS procedure is a security system in accordance with the Housing Transactions Act for the buyer of a new property that is still under construction. 

In the RS procedure, the custodian of safekeeping documents (a bank or the Regional State Agency) notifies the new owners of the shares, as well as pledges and possible restrictions, for registration in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System.

For example, the list of shares shows a widow’s right of possession, a right of use based on a will and enforcement.

See all restrictions shown in the list of shares (in Finnish)

In addition to the above, a printout of owner apartments shows bankruptcy, a notification by the custodian of safekeeping documents, and various expropriation or transfer restrictions, for example.

See all restrictions shown in the printout of owner apartments (in Finnish)

If the parking space has a separate share certificate, apply for the registration of ownership the same way as you would an apartment. In new housing companies (established in 2019 or later), the new owner applies for the registration of ownership of a parking space with the consent of the previous owner. 

If the parking space does not have a share certificate, you do not have to apply for ownership of the parking space separately because the apartment and the parking space are controlled with the same group of shares. The items controlled by the share group are shown in the articles of association and the apartment printout. 

If your paper share certificate is misplaced or damaged, request its annulment from the district court.

If you requested your share certificate to be annulled before your housing company transferred its list of shares to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System, your housing company must provide a new or temporary share certificate to replace the annulled one.

If you requested your share certificate to be annulled after your housing company transferred its list of shares, your housing company does not need to provide a new or temporary share certificate. Attach the district court’s decision on the annulment of the share certificate with the ownership registration application.

Check the price list for apartments.

The procedure depends on whether your housing company is already included in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System, and whether your apartment still has a paper share certificate or an electronic registration of ownership.  

You can check the instructions for each situation by responding to the service assistant’s questions.  

Apply for the registration of ownership from the National Land Survey. Application form (in Finnish).

To register your ownership, you need the seller’s consent. Attach a copy of the deed of sale or separate written consent and the seller’s contact information (telephone number and email address) to the application.

Alternatively, the seller can sign their consent to the application form for the registration of ownership. NLS will contact the seller to verify their consent.

Read more about the registration of ownership. 

If the apartment is pledged as collateral for a loan, please contact the bank.  

You must apply for the registration of your ownership within two months of signing the deed of transfer or transfer of ownership. Apply for the registration of ownership from the National Land Survey. Application form (in Finnish).  

The application must be accompanied by your original paper share certificate with a transfer note in your name. You can send your application and share certificate by mail or bring them to the National Land Survey’s service location anywhere in Finland. Please note that the share certificate is a transferable security and it is important to select a secure delivery method. For additional information, see the Posti website, for example.

Based on the application, the National Land Survey of Finland will register your ownership as an electronic registration of ownership in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System and cancel the paper share certificate at the same time. Do not cancel or destroy your share certificate yourself. 

Read more about the registration of ownership. 

If the apartment is pledged as collateral for a loan, please contact the bank.  

The registration can be rushed for a justified reason (for example, a housing transaction is coming up).

Please contact the National Land Survey’s customer service by phone or using the online form if you need faster registration. 

If you are the current owner of the apartment, you have 10 years to apply to the National Land Survey for the registration of ownership of the apartment. This means that you will convert your paper share certificate into electronic form. Apply for the registration of ownership from the National Land Survey. Application form (in Finnish).  

Your original paper share certificate is required as an attachment to the application. You can send your application and share certificate by mail or bring them to the National Land Survey’s service location anywhere in Finland. Please note that the share certificate is a transferable security and it is important to select a secure delivery method. For additional information, see the Posti website, for example. 

Based on the application, the National Land Survey of Finland will register your ownership as an electronic registration of ownership in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System and cancel the paper share certificate at the same time. Do not cancel or destroy your share certificate yourself. 

Read more about the registration of ownership. 

Application processing times can be found on the Application processing times.

If your share certificate is held by a bank as collateral for a loan, you can authorise the bank to apply for registration on your behalf. However, there is no rush to apply for the registration of ownership. 

If your share certificate is stored in a bank safe but not as collateral for a loan, you can contact the bank and agree whether to apply for the registration of ownership yourself or authorise the bank to do so.

Residential and Commercial Property Information System data are mainly public, but publicity is not the same as unlimited access to data. The data in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System contain personal data, the disclosure of which is regulated by law.  

The housing company’s list of shares is public. In other respects, the data of the Residential and Commercial Property Information System are disclosed for the purposes specified in the law.

When your housing company’s list of shares has been transferred to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System, the housing company will notify the shareholders. You can contact your building manager or the NLS customer service to check whether your housing company’s list of shares has been transferred to the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. 

Housing companies founded in 2019 or later are automatically included in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System.

The Residential and Commercial Property Information System is home to information about ownership, pledges and restrictions of housing companies – for example, their apartments and parking spaces. 

There are around 90,000 housing companies and 1.5 million apartments in Finland, and information about them all will be saved in the Residential and Commercial Property Information System. At the same time, the paper share certificates of owner apartments will be replaced by electronic registrations of ownership.

The Residential and Commercial Property Information System improves the availability and reliability of information about apartments and ownership.  

Comparable, centralised and comprehensive information about housing companies, owner apartments in them, or the ownership and pledges of owner apartments has not previously been available. Centralised information benefits society and enables the development of digital services.