Abolishing Ara
Act repealing the Act on the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland
The Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (Ara) will be abolished as an independent agency from 1 January 2025. The agency's duties and personnel will be transferred to a centre for state-subsidised housing construction to be established within the Ministry of the Environment.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 23 Sep 2024
- Latest event
- 18 Dec 2024
- Votes
- 1
- Speeches
- 9
- Confirmed
- 19 Dec 2024
- Statute
- 1017/2024
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The Act on the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland will be repealed, and the independent agency Ara will be abolished. Its statutory duties, contracts and registers will be transferred to a centre for state-subsidised housing construction to be established in connection with the Ministry of the Environment.
What it means
The change will enter into force on 1 January 2025, when Ara's approximately 45 employees will transfer to the Ministry of the Environment, retaining their terms of public-service employment and salary levels. Supervision of housing construction subsidies, grants, right-of-occupancy queue numbers and energy performance certificates will continue at the new centre, but the tight schedule may cause IT system disruptions or delays in processing applications. Ara's operating expenditure appropriation of 6.136 million euros will be transferred to the ministry, and one-off ICT and other transition costs resulting from the transfer are estimated to exceed 1 million euros.
How Parliament voted
2nd reading · 12 Dec 2024Parliament passed the act by 97–72.
Government yes, opposition no. 30 MPs were absent. Minutes ↗
Filled dot = yes, ring = no, grey = absent. Point at a dot to see the MP. Seats follow the current seating plan (updated 19 Sep 2026). 5 MPs who voted are not in the current seating plan.
A passed act does not enter into force immediately: the President of the Republic confirms it, and it enters into force on the date set in the act. This act was confirmed on 19 Dec 2024.
Debate in the chamber
What was argued and where each group stood, followed by MPs' speeches verbatim from the parliamentary record. Speeches are shown in their original language.
9 speeches · 8 speakers · 2 debates
Key points of the debate
The debate addressed the abolition of the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (Ara) and the transfer of its functions to the Ministry of the Environment. The opposition unanimously opposed the proposal and criticised the state's withdrawal from supporting affordable housing construction during the crisis in the construction sector. Representatives of the government parties did not take the floor in the debate.
- Does abolishing the agency jeopardise affordable housing construction and work against homelessness?
- Is transferring executive duties to the ministry justified administratively and in terms of independence?
- Will the rapid reform cause further disruptions to the construction sector, which is in a difficult cyclical situation?
- Social DemocratsAgainst
The Social Democrats opposed the proposal as hasty and considered that abolishing the independent agency jeopardises the long-term consistency of housing policy and the conditions for affordable housing.
”ARAn toiminta olisi pitänyt säilyttää itsenäisenä virastona, jotta kohtuuhintaisen asuntorakentamisen edellytykset olisi turvattu.”
— Lotta Hamari - Centre PartyAgainst
The Centre Party called for the proposal to be rejected, considering the concentration of executive power in the ministry exceptional and the economic and operational benefits of the reform unclear.
”Hallitus perustelee esityksessään, miksi se on mahdollista, sen sijaan jää varsin epäselväksi, miksi näin kannattaisi tehdä.”
— Vesa Kallio - GreensAgainst
The Greens opposed the abolition, arguing that the Government is dismantling the structures of social housing construction without a compensatory overall plan to ensure affordable housing.
”Tämä osoittaa mielestäni sen, että Orpon hallitukselta puuttuu kokonaiskuva ja suunnitelma siitä, miten tulevaisuudessa turvataan ihmisille hyvä, kohtuuhintainen ja turvallinen asuminen.”
— Tiina Elo - Left AllianceAgainst
The Left Alliance opposed the abolition of Ara, arguing that it weakens the state's role in promoting affordable housing and exacerbates the plight of the construction sector.
”Vasemmistoliitto ei tietenkään kannata ARAn lakkauttamista, ja tähän tarkoitukseen jätimme yhdessä vihreiden ja sosiaalidemokraattien kanssa vastalauseen hallituksen esitykseen.”
— Mai Kivelä
This digest was generated by AI from 9 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi. Eduskunta hyväksyi hallituksen esitykseen HE 136/2024 vp sisältyvän lakiehdotuksen sisällön mietinnön mukaisena. Lakiehdotuksen ensimmäinen käsittely päättyi.
Keskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 23 Sep 2024Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Ympäristöministeriö
- 24 Sep 2024Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 28 Nov 2024Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · ympäristövaliokunta
- 3 Dec 2024Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 13 Dec 2024Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 17 Dec 2024Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki Asumisen rahoitus- ja kehittämiskeskuksesta annetun lain kumoamisestaHyväksytty · 1017/2024 · 19 Dec 2024
Proposed law text
The law proposals in the bill as the Government presented them. The final act may differ after committee consideration.
The law text is shown in Finnish or Swedish from Parliament's official documents; it is not translated into English.
Laki Asumisen rahoitus- ja kehittämiskeskuksesta annetun lain kumoamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti säädetään:
1 §
Tällä lailla kumotaan Asumisen rahoitus- ja kehittämiskeskuksesta annettu laki (71/2007).
2 §
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Henkilöstön asemasta säädetään valtion virkamieslain (750/1994) 2 luvussa.
Asumisen rahoitus- ja kehittämiskeskuksessa vireillä olevat asiat, tehdyt sopimukset ja sitoumukset sekä niistä johtuvat oikeudet ja velvollisuudet siirtyvät tämän lain tullessa voimaan ympäristöministeriön Valtion tukeman asuntorakentamisen keskukselle. Valtion tukeman asuntorakentamisen keskuksesta säädetään laissa ( / ).
Mitä muualla säädetään Asumisen rahoitus- ja kehittämiskeskuksesta, koskee tämän lain voimaan tultua Valtion tukeman asuntorakentamisen keskusta.
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 25 Aug 2026. They are not official documents – check the details in the original bill. The title and summaries are machine translations of the Finnish AI summaries. Speeches and quotations are always shown in their original language.