An Expat Talks about Moving to Helsinki, Finland

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Helsinki

Name three things that you wish you had brought and three you wish you had left at home.

I wish I had brought ponds cold cream. Not missing much else! And more 3 pin to 2 pin plug converters- I forgot that all my electrical goods will need them here. I don't have any medical or dental records- maybe I should have requested copies of those.

I wish I had left at home a lot of printed out info- it took up weight allowance moving and it's all available on the internet. Otherwise I travelled very light.

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What advice would you give someone preparing to move to your area about the actual move, choosing a neighborhood and finding a home?

I'm a student with limited possessions so I used voovit for the move- not bad but they did insist on me giving a Finnish landline number which we just don't have. Otherwise, it's basically the postal service.

We live on the East side but it doesn't feel too rough so far despite its apparent bad reputation. There are a lot of other immigrants in this area, moslems are very visible. So I imagine there are facilities available here for moslems.

I recommend living near a metro line as it's very easy to travel to the city but there are buses and trams in other parts of the city.

What type of housing do you live in? Is this typical for most expats in your area?

Tower block in the suburbs but not nearly as grim as I imagined. It's clean, modern and there's even a washer and sauna room. Might be because it's subsidised young people's housing. All the other ex pats I know have had to take jobs as nannies/au pairs so they live with their employers.

How did you choose your neighborhood and find your home or apartment?

I moved in with my partner so that was fairly simple. He's lived here most of his life.

Are your housing costs higher or lower than they were in your home country? What is the average cost of housing there?

Lower rent but as I said it's subsidised. When we leave here it will be much the same as in the UK. They have a genius system that recycles hot water from power stations which helps stop the energy bills getting ridiculous.