Housing for Exchange Students
The University of Turku is not responsible for student housing.
Finding a place to stay for your exchange period in Turku will require independent effort from you. University of Turku cannot guarantee or arrange housing for the exchange students as we receive about 500 exchange students each year. However, International Office has negotiated with some companies in order to provide housing options for you. We strongly recommend that you are in contact with the companies as soon as possible. These are the options that we recommend for you:
-
Turku Student Village Foundation (TYS) – TYS has 255 apartments and shared apartments reserved for the exchange students of University of Turku. All the apartments are furnished and the rent stars from 220€/month (including water, electricity and internet). The rental period needs to be one of the following:
Autumn Term: Beginning of August – end of December
Spring Term: Beginning of January – end of May
Academic Year: Beginning of August – end of May
You should apply for housing at least six weeks before the lease begins. For the Autumn Term 2012 TYS informs all the applicants about the housing decision by the end of June 2012. You should read your e-mail daily in order to be able to confirm the accommodation offer in time. Please see more information about the apartments and application process from www.tys.fi .
-
Retrodorm– The city of Turku rents apartments for exchange students of University of Turku in Luolavuori. There are about 55 small single room apartments with shared showers and kitchen area. All apartments are furnished and the rent is 250€/month (including water, electricity and internet). The rental period is fixed for a semester or for an academic year but has many options (e.g. it can begin either on the first day of the month or on the 15th.) For the Autumn Term 2012, the application deadline is June 30th and the housing decision will come soon after that. You should read your e-mail daily in order to be able to confirm the accommodation offer in time. More information about the Retrodorm housing and for the application form please visit www.retrodorm.fi.
-
TVT– TVT-Asunnot is a real-estate company owned by City of Turku. They have about 40 shared apartments for exchange students of University of Turku. The rent is around 300€/month. The rental period can begin either on the first day of the month or on the 16th. For the Autumn Term 2012 the application deadline is June 30th and the housing decision will come soon after that. You should read your e-mail daily in order to be able to confirm the accommodation offer in time. More information about the TVT housing and for the application form please visit www.tvtasunnot.fi/kieli_english.php . Note that the page is not yet updated but in June there will be separate information specifically for exchange students.
-
Forenom– is a private and much more expensive choice for renting fully furnished apartments. Rent for a single room in a shared apartment is about 550€ and for a shared room in a shared apartment for 350€. Forenom is flexible with the starting and ending dates of the lease. If you cannot find an apartment from any of the above, you can contact Forenom by 15.7.2012 to find you an apartment and roommates. For more information about Forenom’s apartments and their application process please visit www.forenom.fi/en-US/frontpage/students
Apartment from general / private rental markets
Finding housing for a short period of time from the general/private rental markets in Turku is difficult especially during August and September and thus arriving to Turku without an apartment is not a good idea. Unfortunately, renting out an apartment for an exchange student is not lucrative option for the apartment owners as the rental period is short.
Normally the rental agreements are done for a fixed period of a year and earlier resignation requires a penalty fee to be paid by the tenant. You can take a look for rental apartments for example from following web-pages:
Rental period
If you are coming for the Autumn Term 2012, it is recommendable to have accommodation already in August as the Orientation Course is on 29-31.8.2012. The official arrival days are on August 27-28, except the exchange student coming to Turku School of Economics (TSE) are to arrive latest on August 17, as the course registration for TSE courses begin 20.8.2012 at 8am. Especially if you wish to stay at the TYS student apartments you should start the rental period from the beginning of August as there will not be available TYS apartments for exchange students in September. Hotel and hostel rooms are expensive in Turku and they are usually full in August. The rental period is normally a full month, starting from the first weekday of the month and ending on the last weekday of the month (This does not apply to Forenom, TVT or Retrodorm. Foremon has flexible renting period. With TVT and Retrodorm you can also rent for a half month). Housing offices are generally closed during the weekends.