Electronic housing company shares and register of housing company shares

New housing companies as of 1 January 2019 

• Starting from 2019, all new housing companies have been established digitally and share certificates have no longer been printed on paper since then. Shareholding and mortgaging are registered in the register of housing company shares held by the National Land Survey of Finland (NLS).
• Exhaustive information about the holding and mortgaging of electronic housing company shares and mutual real estate companies will be gradually collected in the register. NLS maintains a register of housing company shares on shareholding and mortgaging entries, changes and removals of entries as well as on certain restrictions such as notes by the authorities.

Housing companies established before the legislative amendment

• The digitalisation of individual housing company shares is not possible before housing companies have transferred their lists of shares to the register of housing company shares. You can ask your property manager for further information on how your housing company will proceed in this matter. Data transfers to the register of housing company shares regarding the lists of shares of housing companies established prior to 2019 have been possible since 1 May 2019. Housing companies are obliged to transfer their lists of shares to the register by the end of 2023.
• If a housing company’s list of shares has been digitalised and the holding of a housing share changes (due to a housing transaction, for example), the shareholding entries and any mortgaging entries must be made to the register of housing company shares within two months from the signing of the deed of transfer, and the share certificate on paper is annulled at the same time. However, the deadline for the digitalisation of individual housing company shares is ten years as from the registration of the housing company’s lists of shares. The ultimate deadline is 31 December 2033, even if no change to the shareholding took place.

If the list of shares has not yet been digitalised by the housing company, any changes to shareholding are made as transfer entries on the housing share certificate on paper as before. If you take out a housing loan in connection with a housing transaction, Nordea will provide you with guidance and make the necessary entries in the register on your behalf. If you have questions, please contact us.

Read more about the register of housing company shares Opens new window(available in Finnish and Swedish)

The National Land Survey of Finland’s “To-do list for the buyer of a property”Opens new window

The reform is based on legislative amendments. The relevant amended Finnish acts are the following: Limited Liability Housing Companies Act, Housing Transactions Act, Trade Register Act and Business Information Act.