Changes in HYY’s premises in 2026

Unfortunately, it would not have been possible to keep Staircase A in organisational use. In terms of its building maintenance technology (including heating, electricity, water, supporting structures, ventilation, etc.), the New Student House is connected to the hotel property, and making the staircase a separate real estate company was unfortunately not possible. Staircases B and C of the New Student House have been built as hotel premises, and the staircases cannot be separated from one another. We looked into this option as part of the preparations for the overall resolution, because retaining Staircase A would have felt natural.

We have been looking into the situation thoroughly all year and have investigated several different solutions under Ylva’s direction. Investigating the alternatives constitutes a business secret – this helps us protect potential buyers, too. It is worth noting that business secrets and the legislation concerning them also protect the negotiating position of HYY’s property finances and thus the overall interest of the Student Union. Holding on to business secrets as defined by legislation is part of responsible business activities.

It has obviously been awkward to have to repeat that we will inform you about things once we have something new to tell for six months.  Now that the matters are public, we will inform you of the next steps and events as comprehensively as possible.

There is no single ‘culprit’. It would be very worrying if all this really had just one culprit. We were not the only party in Finnish business life that failed to predict the triple crisis caused by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the severe inflation. Student decision-makers and Ylva’s operative management did not make investment decisions based on political ideology. Instead, the decisions were carefully prepared, with advice sought from external experts, too. The Representative Council and HYY’s Board made unanimous decisions on these matters at the time, as the goal of having no membership fees by 2025 had widespread support. As Ylioppilaslehti puts it: ‘hindsight is always easier than foresight’.

It is understandable to be looking for culprits and being frustrated at the lack of them. All the decisions were made and prepared based on the best possible information available at the time. The Student Union still stands behind the decision-makers of the time, just as we now stand behind the current decision-makers.

All decisions related to the projects were made after the matters had been prepared by Ylva’s operative management and presented by Ylva’s Board. However, even the best experts in the field did not have a crystal ball at their disposal. Taking risks is a part of business, and the decisions were made based on the best information available at the time. No-one was able to predict the three successive crises of the pandemic, the war of aggression and the rising interest rates. Now we have to live with the consequences.

Anyone who has received discharge from liability concerning the decisions made at the time is no longer liable for them. The democratic autonomy of the Student Union includes collective responsibility for decisions made by the Representative Council.

We fully understand that the New Student House and Old Student House are cultural-historically valuable and, in a way, irreplaceable assets. Avoiding a major financial crisis does not negate the sadness caused by having to sell them. The Student Union can bear this sadness and any other emotions related to the matter and will continue its operation at student house Domus Gaudium on the edge of the city centre.

The idea of the Student Union having no membership fees was based on acting in line with HYY’s core values: the desire to share the common good with as many people as possible, the courage to try something new and the conducting of responsible business. To reach this goal, mortgages on properties including the New Student House and Old Student House were used as securities for a loan.

Even in our worst risk assessments, we did not think that we would have to sell the student houses when paying back the loan. We only had to start considering the sale of the Old Student House in summer 2025. After the financial crises hit, HYY and Ylva did all we could for many years to retain the New Student House and Old Student House.

We were and still are grateful for the initiative made by the foundation.

HYY had already signed a memorandum of understanding with Keva in summer 2025. This means that Keva had an exclusive right to buy the properties included in the memorandum. The initiative made by the consortium was taken into account in the process, and the matter was thoroughly investigated in cooperation with all parties. However, the transaction made now was in the overall interest of the Student Union.

Keva will serve as the responsible owner of the protected property in the future and will provide more information on its plans for the properties included in the transaction at a later time.

The Old Student House will still retain some of HYY’s cultural-historically valuable movable property and art objects.

The debt of HYY’s property finances was at an unsustainable level. Sales smaller than this would not have got us to a solution that is sustainable for the future.

We looked into all kinds of solutions and options, but this was the only real alternative that we were able to realise. It was not possible to separate the kind of property complexes from HYY’s property stock that would have enabled us to pay the loan expenses as they become due, make our loan payments and ultimately make sales in a way that resulted in a better solution to the situation from the Student Union’s perspective.

There was no opportunity for any kind of extension funding.

The price is a business secret.

Once all the arrangements have been concluded, the Student Union (business ID) will be free of debt. In addition to this, the Ylva group, which is in charge of the Student Union’s business functions, will be net debt-free, which means that the group has more funds in its cash funds than it has debt.

In a nutshell, it means the following:

HYY will part with the organisational premises located in the New Student House by the end of spring 2026 and reallocate its remaining organisational premises at Domus Gaudium and Mechelininkatu 3 D, or the library building. The new allocation of premises will be made using generally the same process as the allocation of premises has previously used. After the new allocation of premises, organisational activities will continue at Domus Gaudium and the library building. HYY will continue to own HYY’s movable property, which includes items such as various organisational equipment, tents, furniture, art objects and memorabilia.

HYY’s business ID will also be free of debt after the arrangements. This means that we will be free to continue to decide what the Student Union uses its income from membership fees on in the future, too. We will also still have profitable business activities in the form of Ylva Services Ltd and the UniCafes owned by it.

Parting with the New Student House and Old Student House is a historic and difficult decision, and avoiding a financial catastrophe does not negate the sadness caused by this loss. At the same time, it is also true that the decision made now allows the Student Union to continue its operations. In spring 2026, we will definitely be organising apocalyptic parties at least at the New Student House.

The Representative Council annually decides on the size of the membership fee. Sales taking place now will not directly cause any pressure to either increase or lower the membership fee.

Staying at the New Student House would be a financially unviable option in the long term and not possible with the current income base. In connection with the transaction, we have agreed that we will remain in Staircase A for half a year at a reduced rent, and this has been taken into account in the secretary general’s budget proposal. This has been a major gesture of goodwill towards student activities from the new owner. Technically, the Representative Council has the right to direct HYY to begin negotiations on staying on rent for a longer period. However, the new owner has the final say on the matter.

In practice, staying in Staircase A indefinitely is not an option.

HYY does not have a budget deficit of one million. This phrase comes from Ylioppilaslehti’s interpretation, which is based on arrangements concerning facility costs made within HYY’s business ID. In discussions before the elections in particular, the budget deficit has referred to the fact that we have taken out an internal loan against the premises rented by HYY in the case of premises that we own through HYY’s property finances. Turning the internal rent into an internal loan within the same business ID does not translate into ‘a budget deficit of one million’. To clarify, HYY’s property finances (the Ylva group) and HYY’s operating finances form a single business ID – they could be seen as separate pockets in the same pants, for instance.

After the owner changes, we can now longer take out internal loans for the premises of the New Student House and Old Student House in 2026. The internal loan accumulated in 2024–2025 will be written off in connection with the overall arrangement of property finances.

We will negotiate a reasonable transition with the owner, and the Student Union will not have to pay full rent for the premises. However, we will naturally contribute to the maintenance costs of the properties during the transition. The secretary general has published her budget proposal on 13 November. The proposal will provide an estimate for next year’s facility costs, for instance, in more detail.

At no point during the preparation has the Student Union planned to increase the membership fee to correspond to the size of the internal loan. Let us be very clear on this: sales taking place now will not directly cause any pressure to either raise or lower the membership fee.

It is possible that Ylva Services Ltd will be able to distribute profits to HYY in the future.

Now is a good time to regularly visit UniCafes.

Once all the arrangements have been concluded, the Student Union will be free of debt. In addition to this, the Ylva group, which is in charge of the Student Union’s business functions, will be net debt-free, which means that the group has more funds in its cash funds than it has debt. UniCafe will remain under the Student Union’s ownership.

With our membership fee income alone, HYY is a relatively wealthy student union in the context of Finnish student unions. In addition to this, we will retain some property assets and a very profitable restaurant business, which may provide profits to distribute towards the Student Union’s operation in coming years. Once all the arrangements have been concluded and the Student Union is free of debt, we will be firmly in the middle class.

HYY’s Representative Council will decide on the budget of Ylioppilaslehti as part of its budget proceedings. The next budget will be decided in the Representative Council‘s December meeting on 11 December 2025. The secretary general’s budget proposal for 2026 does not include a proposal for closing Ylioppilaslehti.

Feeling pissed is understandable.

The Student Union and Ylva did all we could, especially to retain the New Student House and Old Student House. However, this solution is the best one for us, made in the overall interest of the Student Union and Ylva.

We could have also be left with no assets and lose the UniCafes. With this solution, HYY will be able to survive. We will still have organisational premises and may be able to distribute profits from our business operations in the coming years.

Ylioppilaslehti published Alli Hallonblad and Roosa Welling’s creditable in-depth report on the situation on 17 March 2025. The report provides a background for the decisions that have led to the current situation from a long-term perspective. We recommend reading the report!

TL;DR: Ten years ago, we wanted higher returns on HYY’s assets and set the goal of having no membership fees by 2025. This goal was shared by the Representative Council elected by our members, HYY’s Central Office and Ylva. The Representative Council set the goal, and Ylva then sought and found suitable ways to help us reach it. All decisions on various projects and opportunities for further investments were made by HYY’s Board or Representative Council at the approval of Ylva’s Board and based on its presentation. Ylva has leading real estate professionals both as employees and as members of its board. Risk assessments made and approved by professionals were utilised for all decisions.

The risk level compared to the amount of capital HYY has, HYY’s equity ratio and HYY’s long-term financial stability was considered moderate. The coronavirus crisis, the war of aggression Russia launched on Ukraine, the rising costs in the construction industry and rising interest rates were all risk factors that were realised almost simultaneously or right after one another when the construction projects were already under way – all worse than anyone had been able to imagine in any scenario.

In 2025, nothing.

In 2026, all premises used by HYY will be reallocated. The significant reduction in premises will have a fundamental effect on the operating logic of the remaining premises.  The change will impact all organisations operating under HYY in the premises. We will ensure that organisations have a sufficient transition period, and the change will take place in full by the end of spring 2026.

Changes to organisational premises may naturally cause various feelings and the pain of loss, which is fully permitted. We will strive to account for organisations’ different needs in this new situation as well as we can.

Early in 2026, we will organise an early allocation of premises to allocate organisational premises from Domus Gaudium and the library building, or Mechelininkatu 3D. At this time, premises will no longer be allocated from the New Student House. As such, the current clusters will no longer exist once the new allocation of premises takes effect.

In the allocation of premises, all organisations operating under HYY that fulfil the criteria for the allocation set by the Financial Committee can apply for organisational premises. The exact criteria will be set by the Financial Committee in December 2025. The changes to the premises will take place by Midsummer 2026, and the 2026 autumn term will begin in the newly allocated organisational premises. We hope that as many organisations as possible will fill in our survey on organisational premises, which is used to chart organisations’ needs for premises.

After the allocation of premises, our aim is to have more shared spaces and facility resources. Limiting the use of festive spaces or similar special spaces in a way that they can only be used by one or a few organisations will very likely not be possible anymore.

The new allocation of premises and the move will be realised through a controlled process, and keys will not suddenly stop working overnight. We will inform you of the schedules, the allocation of premises and other practical arrangements collectively in HYY’s newsletter for organisations. You can subscribe to it with your organisation’s email by filling in the contact details form for organisations.  HYY’s newsletter for organisations is also published on HYY’s website. Finally, you can also join the ‘HYYn järjestöinfo’ channel on Telegram.

Info sessions aimed at for organisations

Info session (in Finnish)
Time: Monday 17 November, 3–4 pm
Location: Wilhelmsson hall
Further information: The session is held to address the most frequently asked questions and the answers to them. You can also ask questions we have not answered yet. You can only participate in the event in person, and the event will not be livestreamed or recorded.

Remote info sessions
Time: Tuesday 18 November, 3–6 pm
Location: Link to the info sessions (Teams)
We are organising separate remote info sessions in Finnish, Swedish and English. During the sessions, we will address the most frequently asked questions and the answers to them. You can also ask questions we have not answered yet.

– Info session in Swedish, 3–3.45 pm
– Info session in Finnish, 4–4.45 pm
– Info session in English, 5–5.45 pm

Discussion event for organisations operating in Domus Gaudium and the library building
Time: Monday 24 November, 3–5 pm
Location: Sivistys
Further information: The event is aimed at organisations whose premises are located in Domus Gaudium, the library building or other nearby buildings. The event provides a good opportunity to ask more detailed questions about matters relevant to your organisation in particular. You can join the event when you like. You can only participate in the event in person, and the event will not be livestreamed or recorded.

Discussion event for organisations operating in the New Student House
Time: Wednesday 26 November, 4–6 pm
Location: Alina Hall
Further information: The event is aimed at organisations whose premises are located in the New Student House. The event provides a good opportunity to ask more detailed questions about matters relevant to your organisation in particular. You can join the event when you like. You can only participate in the event in person, and the event will not be livestreamed or recorded.

In addition to the info sessions, you can request a separate meeting for your organisation or cluster. In this case, please contact HYY’s chief financial and service officer (Anna Laurila, anna.laurila@hyy.fi).

You probably will, within Domma and the library building. All HYY’s organisational premises will be reallocated.

We have been looking into the situation thoroughly all year and have investigated several different solutions under Ylva’s direction. Investigating the alternatives constitutes a business secret – this helps us protect potential buyers, too. It is worth noting that business secrets and the legislation concerning them also protect the negotiating position of HYY’s property finances and thus the overall interest of the Student Union. Holding on to business secrets as defined by legislation is part of responsible business activities.

Before the decisions made by the Representative Council, we have not had any facts on the schedule of the changes or the extent of their effects to organisations that we could have communicated. We acknowledge that the need for information throughout the process has been huge.

It has obviously been awkward to have to say that we will inform you about things once we have something new to tell for six months. Now that the matters are public, we will inform you of the next steps and events as comprehensively as possible.

The planned schedule is as follows:
Please note that the schedule applies to all organisations operating in HYY’s premises, not just those in the New Student House.

1. December 2025 & January 2026: The Financial Committee decides on the principles of the allocation of premises during December. Organisations will receive a survey on premises to chart their use of premises. The survey is used to chart information on matters such as HYY’s premises and other possible premises used by organisations (e.g. the organisation’s own premises or premises provided by the University), special needs for premises, possible wishes concerning premises and types of premises to prioritise. The Financial Committee will set the deadline for filling in the survey when deciding on the principles for the allocation of premises. Information about the decided principles of the allocation of premises will be provided to organisations in January.
2. February 2026: The application process for premises takes place in connection with the application process for operating grants. The deadline for answering the survey is 16 February 2026.
3. March 2026: The Financial Committee prepares its proposal on the allocation of premises.
4. April 2026: The allocation of premises has been conducted by April, and organisations have been informed of it. A more detailed review of movable assets is carried out. Smaller renovations may be begun.
5. May 2026: The move itself is estimated to begin in mid-May. This means that any non-essential movable property is transported elsewhere or disposed of and the movable property that will be taken to the new location is packed at this point at the latest. Actual activities in the organisational premises end as a result of the arrangements caused by the moves. All contracts for organisational premises will expire on 31 May 2026.
6. June 2026: The move is concluded and the New Student House is empty by Midsummer 2026.
7. July 2026: The new allocation of premises is in effect. Possible renovations are conducted in July.

We will inform you of any changes to the tentative schedule if any occur. More details on the schedule of the move, for instance, will be announced closer to the move.

As a rule of thumb, organisations can go about their operations in a relatively normal fashion until May, though going through their movable assets at the same time. The move is drawing nearer by early May, which means that packing, labelling, disposing of items, etc. is under way at this point. The concrete moves paid by HYY will take place in late May and early June.

The answer has been updated on 22 January 2026.

HYY has allocated funds for the move in the secretary general’s budget proposal under non-recurring investments. HYY will generally strive to cover the transport of heavy movable property to support organisations with the moves. Please note that your organisation is generally responsible for its own movable property as well as for labelling and packing it. The part of the moves paid by HYY is conducted in early June at the latest.

More details on the move will be provided during the spring. Please keep an eye on the newsletter for organisations and HYY’s other communication.

It is very likely that every organisation will have to part with at least some of its movable property or store it somewhere else than the organisational premises provided by HYY at its own expense. All furniture and other items will not fit in the organisational premises provided by HYY due to the significant reduction in the amount of space.

In terms of storage in the organisational premises, the general idea is to offer at least one cabinet for each organisation. Some of the space in the new shared spaces will also be reserved for storage purposes. However, with the number of organisations growing, we have to acknowledge that everything currently stored in the organisational premises cannot unfortunately be kept.

We recommend that organisations start going though, disposing of and potentially selling their items right away and continue doing so throughout the spring. HYY will order skips to both Domus Gaudium and the New Student House in late spring to allow organisations to get rid of any property that will not fit in the new premises, cannot be resold and cannot be disposed of using already existing trash collection options. A detailed list of which furnishings can fit in the premises cannot be produced at this time. However, we acknowledge that the changes in premises will also result in new needs for furnishings or similar acquisitions to support the shared use of the premises. For this reason, the secretary general’s budget proposal has provisions for the possibility of temporary storage from May 2026 to December 2026. This way, furnishing the premises can also be done in autumn 2026, and organisations do not have to dispose of their movable property in an uncontrolled manner during spring 2026. Assessment of the needs for furnishings will be made separately for each space as the move draws near. If you have detailed questions about your organisation’s movable property, you can contact HYY’s specialist in organisations or chief financial and service officer.

Generally, HYY is responsible for furnishing and equipping the premises. When furnishing the premises, we will try to account for recycling in accordance with the Sustainable Development Plan and utilise already existing furnishings. The furnishings of organisations may also be utilised as part of furnishing the premises, and we will start a discussion on this once the allocation of premises has been conducted.

If your organisation needs more storage space than HYY can provide, you can acquire storage space at your own expense. If your organisation wishes to look into storage opportunities in the Domus Gaudium area, you can contact HYY’s chief financial and service officer (Anna Laurila, anna.laurila@hyy.fi) who will direct you towards the right party. HYY will not compensate any rental expenses caused by additional storage space organisations acquire themselves.

If your organisation has documentation that needs to be archived, such as old minutes or similar, in your premises, you can make a deposit agreement with HYY’s archives. This way, documentation that is meaningful to the organisation will get stored in HYY’s archive premises.

You can also make a deposit agreement with HYY’s archives on the organisation’s art objects.

If you want to make a deposit agreement or need consultation on archiving or art objects, you can contact HYY’s archivist (Ahto Harmo, arkisto@hyy.fi).

The contract on the music corporations’ rehearsals at the Old Student House is in effect until the end of 2026, and HYY’s Board is obligated to observe the contracts it is bound to. During 2026, we will discuss any observations concerning the upcoming contract period with the music corporations.

Ylioppilasteatteri is turning 100 years old in 2026, and the entire year is set up to celebrate the student theatre activities that have now reached a historic age. The secretary general’s budget proposal includes provisions for facilitating the operation of Ylioppilasteatteri during the 2026 calendar year. Ylioppilasteatteri contributes to the costs of the premises it is using.

Unfortunately, HYY cannot comment on renting organisational premises at the New Student House on the new owner’s behalf.

If you want to look for premises elsewhere independently, that is also an option. In such cases, we encourage cooperation with other organisations. Unfortunately, HYY cannot look for options for premises for interested parties in advance, but if you want to consult us on the matter, you can contact HYY’s chief financial and service officer (Anna Laurila, anna.laurila@hyy.fi). HYY does not separately compensate rental expenses on premises organisations acquire independently.

In the allocation of premises, we will try to take the needs that different hobby groups have for premises into account as well as create shared spaces for activities that require a bit more space. A good example of such a space is the current Wilhelmsson hall at the New Student House. We are also looking into cooperation possibilities with external service providers. However, this process is still under way, and the secretary general’s budget proposal does not include provisions for external premises.

The University of Helsinki is already offering premises for some organisations, along with coffee rooms for students. As part of HYY’s survey on premises, we are charting what premises organisations currently have at their disposal, including ones provided by the University, by asking them directly. This will help us form an overall view of different organisations’ actual opportunities of using premises right now. Based on this process, we will try to identify needs and blind spots and to begin an investigation on increasing student rooms on campuses in cooperation with faculty organisations, for instance. We encourage faculty organisations to be active in this matter themselves, too, and are happy to offer HYY’s help and support to the extent our resources allow.

However, HYY does not have the opportunity to pay rent to the University of Helsinki on any new premises. Any initiatives concerning premises on campuses are major gestures of goodwill from the University and faculties to organisations, and the result of any negotiations cannot be predicted in advance.

Both HYY’s Central Office and the Services Office will move to Domus Gaudium together with the organisations. We will inform you of the exact address and location of the new office once the space has been confirmed.

As part of the change in premises, we will try to set up at least one festive space for organisations to use at Domus Gaudium and/or the library building that would serve them in a similar way that Alina Hall currently does. We recognise that financially affordable large festive spaces are among the most important types of premises for organisations, if not the most important. We will strive to hold onto this. As part of the change in premises, larger festive spaces managed by individual organisations or clusters will no longer exist.

Attic sauna Sivistys will remain available to organisations: at least 50% of the reservations will be reserved for organisations, with the remaining 50% available for private individuals to reserve through Well Catering.

We will communicate about the possible new festive space during the spring. Once the matter has been confirmed, we will hold a reservation round for it. Alina Hall is estimated to remain in its current use until mid-May.

Staying at the New Student House would be a financially unviable option in the long term and not possible with the current income base. In connection with the transaction, we have agreed that we will remain in Staircase A for half a year at a reduced rent, and this has been taken into account in the secretary general’s budget proposal. This has been a major gesture of goodwill towards student activities from the new owner. Technically, the Representative Council has the right to direct HYY to begin negotiations on staying on rent for a longer period. However, the new owner has the final say on the matter.

In practice, staying in Staircase A indefinitely is not an option.

This does suck. Currently, any talk of new beginnings is sure to feel frustrating, and we do not want to downplay the scale of the change. Feeling sad about having to let go of your own organisational space as part of the changes is fully permitted.

We at HYY’s Central Office are also sad to part with the student houses, and it is not particularly fun to have to tell you that the clusters will likely stop operating in their current form.

However, if everything goes according to plan, HYY’s premises will look like this in the future:

• We will have around 1,400 square metres of space in the Domus area for organisations to use for free.
• The premises are more accessible for their users.
• The premises include festive spaces, sauna facilities and multipurpose meeting space for free or for a nominal usage fee.
• The premises can be maintained and renovated, and they are, for instance, warm throughout the year.

The change is big, and finding the silver lining may be difficult right now.

In HYY’s situation, we genuinely could have lost everything. However, all is not lost. The new facility arrangements will facilitate dinner parties, preparties, afterparties and after-afterparties, game nights, meetings and all the moments that give student life its distinctive character.
 

On that note, though, we would like to remind everyone that breaking off any pieces of HYY’s property (such as pictures on the wall, railings, stones, tiles, carpets, doorknobs, plastered surfaces, etc.) or the floor of Alina Hall to take with you as a personal souvenir is unfortunately prohibited.

We are sure you do. Below, you will find a recap of the schedules for the info sessions in which we will try to answer any questions we have not addressed here.

• 17 November, 3–4 pm: info session
• 18 November, 3–6 pm: remote info sessions
  • – 3.00–3.45 pm in Swedish
  • – 4.00–4.45 pm in Finnish
  • – 5.00–5.45 pm in English
• 24 November, 3–5 pm: discussion event for organisations operating in Domus Gaudium and the library building
• 26 November, 4–6 pm: discussion event for organisations operating in the New Student House

We also want to remind you that we do not yet have the answers to all questions, and we recognise that there are probably as many different needs as we have organisations operating under us.

We recommend keeping a close eye on the newsletters for organisations.

If you have specific needs or direct questions right now, you can contact HYY’s specialist in organisations (Janne Saranpää, janne.saranpaa@hyy.fi) or chief financial and service officer (Anna Laurila, anna.laurila@hyy.fi). We will try to answer your questions as soon as we have the answers.

As a rule of thumb, organisations can go about their operations in a relatively normal fashion until May, though going through their movable assets at the same time. Actual activities in the organisational premises end in May as a result of the arrangements caused by the moves.

The Financial Committee will set the deadline for filling in the survey when deciding on the principles for the allocation of premises. The aim of the survey on the use of premises is to chart the organisations’ need for premises: what purposes do they need the premises for and how much use do they have for them. This information will help us create useful, user-friendly organisational premises without wasting square area and hours.

The deadline for answering the survey is 16 February 2026.

The answer has been updated on 22 January 2026.

As part of the overall arrangements for our properties, we will chart the needs for premises. During the current allocation period, HYY has no longer allocated separate storage space from Domus Academica to organisations. If your organisation is using such space, please contact HYY’s specialist in organisations (Janne Saranpää, janne.saranpaa@hyy.fi). As part of the changes in premises, we will strive to offer all organisations at least one cabinet and to reserve a moderate amount of space for storage purposes.

A situation where a single organisation would have an entire storeroom paid by HYY at its disposal will not be possible in the future. Organisations may acquire storage space at their own expense and consult HYY’s chief financial and service officer (Anna Laurila, anna.laurila@hyy.fi) on the matter if needed. This applies to all organisations, including those operating at Domus Gaudium and the library building.

The operating model will depend on the kind of premises we will have. For instance, if all premises are in shared use, the operating model will be different than in a situation where the use of the premises is limited to certain users, like now. In any case, forming some kind of a body to manage and develop the premises makes sense.

The possible festive premises will at least be more accessible than the current Alina Hall. It is likely that some sort of a usage fee will be collected to compensate for the additional cleaning expenses. We will only have more information on the size of the premises and how many people they can accommodate later in the spring.

We do not yet have an accurate estimate on the extent to which HYY will be able to provide moving boxes for the organisations to help with the moving costs. As we do not yet know the amount of movable assets included in the moves, we are also unable to say at this point to what extent moving the movable assets will be covered.

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Yes, you will.

During next spring, we will organise several events at the New Student House that will have open registration for everyone – including our alumni. We will naturally be parting with the New Student House in a spirit of apocalyptic partying. We will also organise the definitive academic dinner party for board members next year.

No, there was not. Calculating other possible solutions based on media reports is an understandable form of speculation. Unfortunately, it was not possible to separate the kind of property complexes from HYY’s property stock that would have enabled us to pay the loan expenses as they become due, make our loan payments and ultimately make sales in a way that resulted in a better solution to the situation from the Student Union’s perspective.

The Student Union and Ylva did all we could. This solution is the best one for us, made in the overall interest of the Student Union and Ylva.

Donations from private individuals should have already amounted to tens of millions during last spring to have an effect on HYY’s situation. This was unfortunately not realistic.

We were delighted to hear about the consortium led by the University of Helsinki. The project was the closest thing to fundraising to happen, and we were very grateful to hear about it.

Unfortunately, no. HYY had already signed a memorandum of understanding with Keva in summer 2025. This means that Keva had an exclusive right to buy the properties included in the memorandum. The initiative made by the consortium led by the University of Helsinki was received with gratitude within the Student Union, and it was taken into account in the process. The matter was thoroughly investigated in cooperation with all parties.

Probably not, because the situation has been very dire. In the spring, we did consider whether there is something the alumni could have helped us with. However, with a debt of hundreds of millions, there are very few things private individuals could have done. If 10,000 alumni had donated 100 euros each, we would only be looking at 1,000,000 euros.

However, the Student Union has not been alone during this difficult time. Many alumni have been involved in the Old Student House foundation project, and many have answered our questions, which have been peculiar at times, on topics ranging from fundraising to interpretation of HYY’s Constitution.

We have been extremely grateful for our alumni’s desire to help us, for all the kind words and for all the offers of help. The Student Union has not been alone during this difficult time.

We will continue to need sparring, training sessions and help with building the Student Union in the future, too – the situation is just new now. If you wish, you can let us know about your desire to help using the alumni form and tell us what kind of help and support you could offer.

Fundraising will be something the Student Union will get back to in the coming years. Further information on fundraising is also available on the alumni form.

The most delicious thing you can do to help the Student Union is to dine at UniCafe as often as possible in the coming years. It is possible that Ylva Services will be able to distribute profits to the Student Union in the coming years.

Ravintola Domus and Well Catering are also a part of UniCafe, and the premises and catering services provided by them can be used for your company Christmas party, for instance!

So are we.