Student housing in Jyväskylä: where to find a home?

Photo: Pinja wishes to live a walking distance away from the center. She found a suitable apartment near Ruusupuisto in a wooden KOAS apartment building.

There are two major student housing operators in Jyväskylä: KOAS and Soihtu. Together they own thousands of apartments of which most are studios and shared flats. There are also some two-room apartments and family apartments as well.

Student housing is made easy

“Everything is ready and you don’t need to adjust anything”, says Pinja Heinonen about student housing who lives in KOAS Seminaarinmäki. In KOAS and Soihtu water, electricity and internet are usually included in the rent and there are also many kinds of common rooms available for free, such as a laundry room and sauna.

Pinja, who studies health sciences in Jyväskylä University, used to live in Kuokkala in a shared flat. She has just moved closer to the center.

“For me the most important factor is that the neighborhood is nice. I had heard that Kuokkala is a bit restless, but it turned out to be quite nice”, Pinja says.

She had to be in a queue for about a year before moving to the studio in Seminaarinmäki. Living in the shared apartment left Pinja some great memories.

“For me it was clear that I want to live in a shared flat first when I move to a new city. There’s always someone to talk to”, Pinja tells.

Communal living and diverse services

Psychology students Joanna, Ira and Oona live in Kortepohja in a shared flat. The Kortepohja student village is owned by Soihtu. The three young women had been looking for apartments elsewhere as well, but wanted to move to Kortepohja because there is an active community of other psychology students.

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Kortepohja is located approximately 2,5 kilometers from the Jyväskylä center. Students find it easy to go to the center and to campus.

“Everyone who lives in Kortepohja thinks that the center is close by. However, those who live in the center think Kortepohja is far away”, the trio says laughing.

Joanna, Ira and Oona find the services of Kortepohja diverse and good. A twenty-four-seven Supermarket, free gym, student restaurant and versatile study spaces all make living easier.

“It’s great to live here”, the women conclude.

Shared housing beats its reputation

Everyone has heard stories about living in a shared flat. The question is, to whom roommate life is suitable?

“At least you need to be flexible. There are many people so everyone has to make compromises”, the roommates say.

Joanna, Ira and Oona think that at least in Finland, living in a shared flat has an unnecessarily bad reputation. They think that living with roommates is a great way to get to know people, and that’s a good thing especially in the first years of student life.

“It’s important to set your own limits when living with roommates. To live in a shared flat doesn’t mean that you couldn’t be alone”, the trio says.

Check out the Soihtu apartments here and KOAS apartments here

Psst! Listen to our international special episode podcast of Jyväskylä