Finland to implement new rental laws restricting smoking

New rental housing legislation in Finland, set to take effect at the beginning of next month, will automatically prohibit smoking on balconies and inside rental units unless specifically permitted in the lease agreement. This change marks a shift from the current regulation, where smoking is only prohibited if explicitly forbidden by the lease or the housing company.

The new rules will also apply to existing rental agreements. Timo Metsola, chairman of Vuokraturva, estimates that the change could affect hundreds of thousands of tenants, noting that it is rare for smoking to be explicitly allowed in standard contracts.

Further restrictions are expected next year. A government legislative proposal aims to allow housing companies to ban balcony smoking via a two-thirds majority vote, removing the current requirement for unanimous consent or municipal authority approval. While real estate interest groups have advocated for a direct legal ban on smoking, health organizations like Ash Finland have also been involved in the discourse.