Termination of a rental contract

Puualustan päällä asetelma, jossa kasvi ja käpy

Notice of the rental contract

According to law, the rental contract shall be terminated in written form and the notice shall be evidentially delivered.

An electric notice is also acceptable, as long as the notice cannot be altered afterhand and is saveable.

Evidential delivery means that there is some proof of the notice being delivered. For example, a witness who is present during the giving of the notice can prove that the notice has been delivered. It is also possible to use the postal services “saantitodistuskirje” which means that the recipient gets the notice from their post office with identification and when the notice is given to them, the sender gets a receipt of the reclaim.

If the tenant or landlord cannot be reached and their whereabouts are unknown, the notice can be given through a summoner. It should be noted that using a summoner will cost about 70 euros (you can see the updated fees at www.oikeus.fi) and it can take some time before the summoner is able to handle the delivery.

We have produced a fillable form for the termination (in Finnish):


Vuokra-asunnon irtisanomislomake.pdf (460 kB)


The termination periods according to law

The beginning of the termination period

The termination period begins at the start of the month following the termination notice. For example, if the notice is received on the 14th of March, the termination period begins at the 1st of April.



When the landlord terminates the contract

The termination period is 3 months if the rental relationship has lasted for less than 1 year, and 6 months if the rental relationship has lasted for at least 1 year. The landlord should have a reason for terminating the contract and the reason should be according to fair rental practices.


When the tenant terminates the contract

The termination period is one month when the tenant terminates the contract. The tenant does not need a reason for terminating the contract.


Termination periods in subtenancy

In subtenancies, the termination period for the subtenant is 14 days.

For the sublandlord, the termination period is 1 month if the tenancy has lasted for less than a year and 3 months if the tenancy has lasted for over a year.