General rules for plot draw 2026

The application period starts on 1 October 2026 and ends on 2 November 2026 at 13:00. Applications received late will not be considered.

Put the plots in the order of preference when listing them in your application. You can only take part in the draw for the plots that you have selected for your application.

If you cannot take part in the electronic application process, contact by email matias.j.rajala@espoo.fi

One household can submit only one application. All applicants must be entered on the same application. This rule also applies to couples/applicants who do not live in the same address during the application period but who are planning to build a detached house together. If you apply for more than one plot on the same application, you must put the plots in the order of preference in the application.

Make sure to complete the application carefully. The lease agreement/deed of sale will only be made in the name of the persons listed in the application. You cannot change any of the parties to the agreement after it has been concluded, remove names of the parties or add new parties to the document. All plot transfers taking place without the consent of the City of Espoo are subject to a fine if the transfer takes place before the construction obligation has been fulfilled.

At least one of the applicants (the applicant entered as applicant no.1 on the application) must perform strong identification when the application is submitted. The application will not be accepted if applicant no. 1 has not performed strong identification. The applicant no. 1 is the primary contact person and responsible for the processing and reservation fee. An active email address accessible to all applicants must be given in the application (for contacts and for electronic signing of the agreement).

Providing false information may result in the cancellation of the plot reservation.

Applications for plots can be submitted by private individuals aged 18 and over.

The City of Espoo will not transfer a detached house plot to an applicant in this plot draw if the applicant has received a detached house plot in any of the five most recent plot draws or if the applicant has received an unbuilt plot originally transferred by the City of Espoo from another person in accordance with a transfer permit granted by a City of Espoo officeholder. This rule applies to all persons who have signed a deed of sale or a lease agreement for a detached house plot or who have received an unbuilt plot with a transfer permit after 1 June 2020.

Priority in the draw is given to applicants residing in Espoo. An applicant residing in Espoo is an applicant whose municipality of residence entered in the Population Information System has been Espoo since 1 January 2026 (section 1, subsection 2 of the Municipality of Residence Act (201/1994)). The municipality of residence of the applicant entered as applicant no. 1 in the application is checked when the order of preference is determined.

After the application period has ended and the draw has been carried out, the applicant will be notified of the results by email. A notification of a plot reservation means that the plot has been reserved for the applicant. Applicants for whom a plot has been reserved cannot exchange their plot for another plot.

Applicants for whom a plot has been reserved must submit a certificate/extract from the credit register to the City of Espoo before the lease agreement/deed of sale is signed. The lease agreement/deed of sale cannot be signed if any of the parties to the agreement has a payment default entry.Applications for plots can be submitted by private individuals aged 18 and over.

The City of Espoo will not transfer a detached house plot to an applicant in this plot draw if the applicant has received a detached house plot in any of the five most recent plot draws or if the applicant has received an unbuilt plot originally transferred by the City of Espoo from another person in accordance with a transfer permit granted by a City of Espoo officeholder. This rule applies to all persons who have signed a deed of sale or a lease agreement for a detached house plot or who have received an unbuilt plot with a transfer permit after 1 June 2020.

Priority in the draw is given to applicants residing in Espoo. An applicant residing in Espoo is an applicant whose municipality of residence entered in the Population Information System has been Espoo since 1 January 2026 (section 1, subsection 2 of the Municipality of Residence Act (201/1994)). The municipality of residence of the applicant entered as applicant no. 1 in the application is checked when the order of preference is determined.

After the application period has ended and the draw has been carried out, the applicant will be notified of the results by email. A notification of a plot reservation means that the plot has been reserved for the applicant. Applicants for whom a plot has been reserved cannot exchange their plot for another plot.

Applicants for whom a plot has been reserved must submit a certificate/extract from the credit register to the City of Espoo before the lease agreement/deed of sale is signed. The lease agreement/deed of sale cannot be signed if any of the parties to the agreement has a payment default entry.

The applicant for whom a plot has been reserved must pay a processing and reservation fee (EUR 2,000) regardless of whether the applicant in question accepts the plot. This means that you must pay the processing and reservation fee even if you cancel your plot reservation. The processing and reservation fee will not be returned in full or in part even if the plot recipient fails to accept the plot or fails to sign the lease agreement/deed of sale within the given deadline. Neither will the processing and reservation fee be returned if the lease agreement/deed of sale cannot be signed due to the applicant’s payment default entry. The processing and reservation fee covers the costs and other losses incurred by the City of Espoo from the cancellation.

The invoice for the processing and reservation fee is sent to the home address of the applicant entered as applicant no. 1 on the application. If the applicant for whom a plot has been reserved has not paid the processing and reservation fee by the due date, the plot reservation will expire and the plot will be offered to applicants on the waiting list [Updatet 18.9.2026]. An unpaid processing and reservation fee will be transferred to the collection procedure.

The processing and reservation fee will be deducted from the rent/sales price and credited to the signatories of the transfer agreement.

You can continue to participate in plot draws even if you have failed to accept the plot reserved for you.

All approved applicants who did not receive a plot in the draw will be placed on a waiting list. Applicants placed on the waiting list will only be offered cancelled plots that they have applied for. Applicants on the waiting list will be offered plots for a reasonable period but not beyond 26 February 2027.

Returned plots will be offered to applicants on the waiting list according to the draw result. An applicant on the waiting list has seven (7) days to accept the plot and seven (7) days from the acceptance of the plot to pay the processing and reservation fee. The applicant on the waiting list is primarily notified of an available plot by email.

You can lease or buy a plot.

In this plot draw, you can only be a party to a lease agreement/deed of sale involving one plot.

The parties for whom a plot has been reserved must sign the lease agreement or the deed of sale by the deadline specified by the City of Espoo. The deadline for signing the agreement is about five (5) months from the plot draw.

The plots are transferred to the applicants or to a housing company established in the name of the plot recipient(s). The plot is transferred to this housing company only if the plan regulations allow the construction of more than one dwelling on the plot.

When more than one dwelling is built on the leased plot, the lessees must draw up a joint management agreement. Even though the City of Espoo is not a party to the joint management agreement the parties for whom a plot has been reserved must submit the draft agreement to the City of Espoo for review well in advance of the signature date. The joint management agreement should be prepared as thoroughly as possible before the lease agreement is signed. The joint management agreement must be brought to the occasion where the lease agreement is signed and it must be signed immediately after the signing of the lease agreement.

The sales price must be paid no later than on the occasion where the deed of sale is signed, and the buyer must provide the seller with a receipt of the sale. The processing and reservation fee (EUR 2,000) is deducted from the sales price.

The lease period and the obligation to pay the rent start from the date on which the lease agreement is signed.

The lease periods of the plots will end as follows:

- 31 December 2076: Henttaa (Lillhemt)

- 31 December 2079: Perusmäki (Kalliomäki)

- 31 December 2080: Kurttila (Mäkitupa and Kallvik I)

- 31 December 2082: Laaksolahti (Laaksolahti-Jupperi)

- 31 December 2084: Latokaski (Kaskihaka) and Kalajärvi (Alaniemi and Kalajärvenkallio)

- 31.12.2087: Perusmäki (Gobbacka), Espoonkartano (Mynttilä), Vanttila (Hepmortinrinne) and Viherlaakso (Viherlaakso)

The rent must be paid on a quarterly basis to the account specified by the lessor. The due date is the 30th day of the first month of the calendar quarter. The processing and reservation fee (EUR 2,000) will be deducted from the first rental payments.

The rent will be linked to the cost-of-living index so that the rent specified in Appendix 1 to the decision on the detached house plot draw is the basic rent and the index number for April 2026 (2379) is the basic index number. Starting on 1 January 2028, the rent will be adjusted by the calendar year in accordance with the average index point (comparative index) of the previous calendar year so that the basic rent is increased by applying the same ratio as between the comparative index and the basic index number. The rent will not be lowered even if the index number decreases. However, if the cost-of-living index rises by less than 1%, the rent will be increased by at least 1.0% annually (hereinafter referred to as the ‘minimum increase’).

During the lease period, two level adjustments will be made to the basic rent so that the basic rent is corrected with the average (price index 2020=100 for old shareholding apartments) of the housing price index in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area in the last three years before the level adjustment. The basic index number used in the level adjustment is the index number of the housing price index of the fourth quarter (2024 Q4) in 2024 (93.5). The level adjustments will be made to the rent on 1 January 2046 and 1 January 2066. The rent determined on these dates is the new basic rent. The adjustment linked to the cost-of-living index stated in the previous paragraph or the minimum increase will be implemented after the level adjustment as of 1 January 2047/1 January 2067. In this case, the basic index number is the average index of the 2045/2065 cost-of-living index.

The lessee has the right to purchase the plot during the lease period. The lessor determines the sales price separately.

Construction on the plot can start after the construction permit process has been finalised and all municipal infrastructure work has been carried out. All street construction work on the plots offered in the plot draw has been carried out and the plots can be connected to the water services infrastructure. You can apply for the construction permit after the lease agreement/deed of sale has been signed.

The buyer of the plot/lessee undertakes to construct a building/buildings on the plot that can be given final approval by the building supervisory authority and that has a gross floor area comprising at least 70% of the permitted building volume.

If the buyer/lessee transfers the plot, leasehold or shares entitling the transferee to ownership or possession of the plot without the consent of the City of Espoo before the buyer/lessee has used at least 70% of the permitted building volume on the plot, the buyer/lessee undertakes to pay to the City of Espoo a compensation, the amount of which is equal to the sales price for plots on sale and 25 times the full annual rent for leased plots. This rule also applies to transfers between the parties.

The lease agreement/deed of sale should preferably be signed electronically in the National Land Survey of Finland’s property transaction service. If the lease agreement/deed of sale cannot be signed electronically, it can be signed manually.

The service fees are determined in accordance with the valid price list of the National Land Survey of Finland. In connection with electronic property transactions, the service charges a service fee, which includes the registration of property ownership fee. The buyer is responsible for the costs and registrations arising from the transactions.

When a land lease agreement is signed, the service charges the registration and mortgage application fee for the leasehold. The fee is charged for both electronic and manual signatures. The lessee is responsible for the registration and mortgage fees arising from the leasehold.

In accordance with the Code of Real Estate (540/1995), the lessee of a leased plot must apply for the registration of the leasehold at their own expense.

In the same connection, the lessee must also apply for a mortgage for the City of Espoo that covers the leasehold and the lessee’s buildings that will be built in the leased area. The mortgage amount must be three times the annual rent and the mortgage must have the highest priority.

The mortgage application must specify that the mortgage deed for the above-mentioned mortgage is transferred to the lessor as security for the fulfilment of the obligations under the lease agreement.

When the lease agreement is signed electronically, the registration and mortgage matters of the leasehold are initiated at the National Land Survey of Finland after all parties have signed the lease agreement.

When the lease agreement is signed manually, the lessee also signs the applications for registration and mortgage when signing the lease agreement and the City of Espoo sends the application documents to the registration authority. The lessee is responsible for the costs arising from the application for registration and mortgage.

Please note that the State Treasury has prohibited the use of state guarantees in a loan if the leasehold mortgage deed has priority. This means that state guarantees cannot be used for a loan that is applied for the construction of a building on a leased plot owned by the City of Espoo.

The registration fees are determined in accordance with the National Land Survey’s price list.

The price list for registering a paper lease agreement can be found at: Apply for the registration of a property leasehold or its change | National Land Survey of Finland(external link, opens in a new window) and Apply for a mortgage | National Land Survey of Finland(external link, opens in a new window)

The price list for the electronic property transaction service can be found at: Property transaction services | National Land Survey of Finland(external link, opens in a new window)

The buyer of the plot is responsible for the registration of property ownership and the application fee paid in connection with the registration as well as for the transfer tax, which is 3% of the sales price. The registration of property ownership fee is determined in accordance with the National Land Survey’s price list. Further information and price list: Apply for the registration of property ownership | National Land Survey of Finland(external link, opens in a new window)

The price list for the electronic property transaction service can be found at: Property transaction services | National Land Survey of Finland(external link, opens in a new window)

The owner of the plot must pay real estate tax on the plot and the buildings, whereas the lessee only pays the tax on the buildings. The person who owns the property or building on 1 January is obliged to pay the tax. The real estate tax rate is determined by the city. For more information, contact the Finnish Tax Administration: Value of real estate and real estate tax rates – vero.fi(external link, opens in a new window)

The plot must be connected to the water services network if the connection points are located in the immediate vicinity of the plot. The plot pipeline branches are the property of the lessee/buyer, which means that the work and material costs of connecting the plot to the water and sewer networks are paid by the plot lessee/buyer. The City of Espoo or the Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority (HSY) is not obliged to extend the provision for a connection to the plot boundary. However, there are plots where this provision already exists. For existing plot pipeline branches, HSY will charge the customer a fee specified in its price list when the customer starts using the branch.

The plots are different in terms of municipal infrastructure. There are detached house plots where the water and sewer networks extend to the plot boundary and plots where the extension is not available. The future lessee/buyer should be aware of this and contact HSY to determine the water and sewer network connection points.

The Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority (HSY) collects fees based on the Water Services Act (119/2001). The work and material costs of connecting the plot-specific water and sewer branches to the water and sewer networks are also invoiced from the lessee/buyer.

For more information on connecting to HSY’s water and sewer networks, visit the authority’s website: Connecting to the water and sewer networks – HSY(external link, opens in a new window)

The City of Espoo has introduced a municipal stormwater fee starting from 2026. For more information: Stormwater | City of Espoo

Construction on the plot can start once the access road and water services infrastructure are in place. All street construction work on the plots offered in the plot draw has been carried out and the plots can be connected to the water services infrastructure.

When the plot is adjacent to a street or a park, the plot owner/lessee must check the planning situation concerning the street or the park and any existing street, park or building plans.

For more information on the planning and construction of access roads and water services infrastructure, contact the City of Espoo Urban Environment Customer Service: Urban Environment Customer Service | City of Espoo

You should contact the customer service of the local distribution network operator in advance to find out when you can connect your plot to the electricity network. The connection order should be placed as early as possible and you should also state when you need the electricity. Network solutions and network capacity may occasionally cause unexpected delays in the construction of electricity connections. For more information, visit Caruna’s website: Electricity connections | New and temporary electricity connections | Caruna(external link, opens in a new window)

Fortum may offer district heating as a heating option in some areas. Connections can be established if a sufficient number of plot owners in the area choose district heating as their heating method. For more information, visit Fortum’s website: District heating for your home | Fortum (in Finnish)(external link, opens in a new window)

The City of Espoo reserves the right to establish easements for existing cables or for cables specified in the detailed plan as part of the municipal infrastructure without compensation.

The City of Espoo may, without compensation, place/build ramps, embankments, cuttings and other similar structures on the plot that may be required by block and street plans.

The buyer/lessee of the plot is responsible for constructing the boundary ditches and for conveyance of stormwater.

There may be cables and pipes on plots in built-up areas. Before starting excavation work, the plot recipient must determine the location of any underground cables and pipes.

The cable and pipe information service prepares reports on underground cables and pipes. For more information, please contact: Cable and pipe information service | City of Espoo

We recommend that you take a look at the rules for street maintenance on the City of Espoo website: Street maintenance | City of Espoo

The Geotechnical Unit of the Public Works Department has carried out preliminary soil surveys and studies on building foundation methods. These constructability studies are not sufficient for the final structure plans, and additional soil studies must be carried out at the construction site to check the soil layers and to ensure that detailed foundation plans can be prepared.

The plot recipient is responsible for carrying out soil studies as part of the planning of the construction project and the structural solutions required for the project.

For more information, visit the websites of the Geotechnical Unit: Geotechnics and soil | City of Espoo and Geotechnics | City of Espoo

For more information on matters concerning the detailed plan, contact the City Planning Department: Plans | City of Espoo and Contact Information for City Planning | City of Espoo

For more information on construction-related matters and permits, contact Building Control (telephone hours: Wednesday and Thursday 9:00–10:30)

• Perusmäki: Nicole Ahtokivi, nicole.ahtokivi@espoo.fi tel. +358 43 8272772
• Henttaa: Jarmo Kettunen, jarmo.kettunen@espoo.fi tel. +358 40 1852897
• Laaksolahti and Kalajärvi: Tuuli Petäjä-Siren, tuuli.petaja-siren@espoo.fi tel. +358 40 6343310
• Kurttila: Helena Railama, helena.railama@espoo.fi tel. +358 40 6671950
• Latokaski: Aino Partanen, aino.partanen@espoo.fi tel. +358 40 6365978
• Vanttila and Espoonkartano: Johanna Haikarainen, johanna.haikarainen@espoo.fi and tel. +358 40 6343762
• Viherlaakso: Tarja Hellsten, email: tarja.hellsten@espoo.fi and tel. +358 40 6366082

• Building Control website: Building Control | City of Espoo

A building easement is needed if a part of the building extends to the adjacent plot, the buildings have a common wall on the plot boundary, or a structure of a building otherwise encumbers another plot.

A building easement can only be established if the property owners and lessees concerned agree on it in writing. The easement agreement must be signed by all property owners/lessees and (in the case of leased plots) by the City of Espoo. The maps and drawings describing the easement in question must be appended to the easement agreement. The City of Espoo or individual authorities do not prepare easement agreements as this is the responsibility of the property owners/lessees.

The application for establishing an easement must be submitted in writing to City of Espoo Building Control. In the City of Espoo, the decision to establish a building easement is made by the lawyer of the Building Control.

The plot recipient is responsible for the disposal of any movable property and structures on the plot at their own expense. The City of Espoo does not compensate the plot recipient for the costs incurred from the construction of building foundations.

Buyers from outside the EU and EEA may need a permit for purchasing real estate in Finland. For more information on the matter, visit the website of the Finnish Ministry of Defence: Permits to buy real estate | Ministry of Defence(external link, opens in a new window)

Here you can read more about the green factor: Green factor – tool for increasing urban green | City of Espoo

Before the application period, the plots are marked in the terrain with red poles or flags. The plot numbers are written on the signs located on the plots. Espoo map service(external link, opens in a new window) is a handy way to locate the plot boundaries. Turn on the location data of your phone and click the location in the bottom right corner to see your approximate location in the terrain.