Updated 12 October 2026
A pipe renovation (putkiremontti or linjasaneeraus) renews a building's water pipes and sewers. It is a large project for a housing company (taloyhtiö), and the owners pay for it.
Who is responsible
The Limited Liability Housing Companies Act makes the housing company responsible for the building's basic systems: heating, electricity, water, sewers, ventilation and the like. Pipes are therefore the company's responsibility, and the company covers the cost with charges collected from the owners.
The owner is responsible for the interior of the flat. When a pipe renovation damages it, the company restores it to the standard level of the time. A finish above that level, such as more expensive tiles, is the owner's own choice.
When an owner's earlier work, such as a bathroom renovated earlier, lowers the company's costs, the general meeting decides on lowering that owner's charge. The reduction is at most the company's saving or the owner's share of the cost, whichever is smaller.
What it costs
The Finnish Property Management Association (Isännöintiliitto) has surveyed pipe renovations 17 times, most recently in May 2026. In the survey, property managers report the total cost of their latest traditional pipe renovation per m² of residential floor area. The medians were:
| Survey | Whole country | Helsinki area |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | €832 per m² | €1,038 per m² |
| 2025 | €850 per m² | €1,128 per m² |
| 2026 | €890 per m² | €1,000 per m² |
For a 50 m² flat, €890 per m² is about €44,500, and €1,000 per m² is €50,000. The figures are medians from a survey of 131 property managers, of whom 77 reported their latest project, so a single building can cost clearly more or less.
Most of the projects in the survey were in buildings from the 1970s (39%) and the 1980s (25%).
How common it is
Statistics Finland asks housing companies every year about the large renovations they plan. In 2025, 6% of housing companies planned to renew their water pipes within three years and 15% within ten years. For sewers the shares were 4% and 12%.
How it is paid
In the same survey, 92% of the projects were financed with a housing company loan. Each owner then pays a share of the loan through a monthly finance charge, as explained in Debt-free price, housing company loans and the finance charge.
Example: a 50 m² flat with a €44,500 share of the loan. Say the loan runs 25 years at 3.5%. The finance charge is then about €223 a month, and the interest over the 25 years comes to about €22,000. If the company allows it, you can pay your share in one sum and avoid that interest. The property manager knows when the company accepts such payments.
The tax credit for household expenses (kotitalousvähennys) does not cover work the housing company is responsible for and that is paid through charges. It does cover extra work you order yourself during the renovation, such as extra bathroom tiling, when you agree on it directly with the contractor and pay the invoice directly to them.
Living through the renovation
In the 2026 survey, the work itself took about six months on average. All bathrooms were renewed in 45% of the projects, some of them in 19% and none in 32%. Leaks in the pipes were the strongest reason to start planning a renovation.
The housing company must tell owners and residents in good time about maintenance work that affects the use of the flat.
If you rent
A pipe renovation affects tenants as much as owners: the water, the bathroom and the kitchen can be out of use while the work is done in the flat.
- Rent reduction. A housing company renovation is the typical reason for a rent reduction. A tenant has the right to a reasonable reduction for the time the flat is not in the required condition, and to pay no rent for the time it cannot be used at all. The right counts from the day you tell the landlord about the disruption, so tell them in writing as soon as it starts.
- Agree on the amount. The reduction is agreed with the landlord. Do not cut or stop the rent on your own.
- Ending the lease. A lease valid until further notice can be ended with one month's notice, see Renting a flat. A fixed-term lease runs to its end date, unless you and the landlord agree otherwise. In some situations, a tenant can also cancel the lease.
- Before you sign. Ask the landlord whether the housing company has a pipe renovation coming and when. Owners receive the maintenance needs survey every year, so the landlord can find out. A rent clearly below others in the area can have many reasons, and an upcoming renovation is one worth asking about. You can compare rents on the map.
Before you buy
- Maintenance needs survey (kunnossapitotarveselvitys). Every year the board presents to the annual general meeting a written survey of the maintenance needed over the next five years that materially affects the use of the flats, the charges or other housing costs. The board also reports the significant maintenance and alteration work already done, with dates.
- Property manager's certificate (isännöitsijäntodistus). It states the company's finances and what the company knows about the condition of its buildings and of the flat.
- The debt-free price. It includes only loans the company already has. A renovation that is planned but not yet financed adds to your costs later.
Charges by building age
Statistics Finland publishes the charges housing companies collect for capital expenditure, per m² by construction period. In blocks of flats in 2025, the charges were:
| Built | Capital charge per m² a month |
|---|---|
| Before 1960 | €2.17 |
| 1960–1969 | €2.34 |
| 1970–1979 | €1.54 |
| 1980–1989 | €0.85 |
| 1990–1999 | €0.65 |
| 2000–2009 | €0.47 |
| 2010 onwards | €6.71 |
The figures cover the part of the charges that companies record as income. Charges that a company capitalises in its accounts are left out. Buildings from 2010 onwards mostly repay their construction loans through these charges.
The comparison on Asumisvalinta uses these figures. As a building ages, its renovation charge moves to the level that older buildings pay today, so a building from 1985 pays the level of today's 1960s buildings twenty years from now.
Sources
- Asunto-osakeyhtiölaki 1599/2009 (Limited Liability Housing Companies Act), chapter 4 sections 2, 3 and 6, chapter 6 sections 3 and 32, chapter 7 section 27, Finlex, consolidated text read 12 October 2026.
- Laki asuinhuoneiston vuokrauksesta 481/1995 (Act on Residential Leases), section 23, Finlex, read 12 October 2026.
- Inadequate condition of a rental apartment, Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority, read 12 October 2026.
- Putkiremonttibarometri 2026, keskeiset tulokset, Isännöintiliitto, May 2026, read 12 October 2026.
- Tax credits for household expenses in a housing company, Finnish Tax Administration, updated 26 September 2024, read 12 October 2026.
- Finance of housing companies, Statistics Finland, table 15gi "Profit and loss account items of housing companies by year of construction, 2024–2025", updated 15 June 2026, item k3283, blocks of flats. Source: Statistics Finland, CC BY 4.0.
- Renovation building, Statistics Finland, table 15ga "Large renovations planned by housing companies", 2025, updated 15 June 2026. Source: Statistics Finland, CC BY 4.0.