Homes for the homeless

The Y-Foundation is one of the key national developers of the Housing First principle in Finland. The Y-Foundation offers affordable rental housing.

Mission

So that everyone can have a home.

Vision

We are a leader in the eradication of homelessness and we promote well-being and sustainable lifestyles among our tenants.

Values

We are bold and trustworthy creators of housing with dignity.

Courage. We have the courage to be on your side even when others are not. We lead the way, make decisions and put our plans into action with an open mind.
Trust. We do what we promise. Our tenants can trust in the affordability, continuity and safety of their housing.
Housing with dignity. Dignity is the foundation of our work. We treat our tenants equally. We provide affordable rental apartments. Everything we do starts from the Housing First principle.

Service promise

We are here for you.

We treat everyone equally
We listen to our tenants
We make daily life easier
We provide functional and safe homes

Developer of new homes

Our mission is to enhance social justice. We do this by developing social housing to the largest Finnish cities lacking affordable housing. Our building projects are based on local needs.

We build housing units where support services are easy to arrange. We also develop and build state-subsidised rental homes under M2-Kodit. The Y-Foundation also acquires rental dwellings by purchasing individual apartments from housing companies on the free market.

The work we do relies heavily on our solid expertise on issues relating to homelessness and the Housing First principle. Our wide knowledge is based on a strong co-operation with municipalities and NGO’s. We also do research on homelessness.

Y-Foundation in figures

We have over 17 300 apartments and operate in over 50 cities and municipalities in Finland. We are the fourth largest landlord in Finland.

The Y-Foundation offers rental homes for people experiencing homelessness and those who are under a threat of becoming homeless. Cities, municipalities and their property companies sublet our apartments to their residents in need of an own home.

Housing First is the basis of our work

Our day-to-day actions underscore our role as a leader in the eradication of homelessness. We develop anti-homelessness efforts together with our partners in Finland and internationally.

We are actively involved as a national developer of the Housing First principle, which is gaining ground all over the world.

We coordinate the European Housing First Europe Hub co-creation platform. It supports the dissemination of anti-homelessness efforts based on the Housing First principle and the continued development of methods and practices.

Everything we do is geared towards promoting the well-being of our tenants and sustainable lifestyles.

The founding members of the Y-Foundation

History of the Y-Foundation

The Y-Foundation was founded in December 1985 as a response to a serious housing shortage.

European co-operation

We are the establisher of the Housing First Europe HUB together with FEANTSA.

Housing First in Finland

Finland is the only country in Europe where the number of homeless people is on the decline.