Housing

Steps

1. Look for your home. Three main families: the private market, social housing (almene boliger, built with public subsidies and generally let from waiting lists) and, for students, halls of residence (kollegier). Waiting lists make social housing hard to get when you arrive from abroad.
2. Visit before signing and never pay a deposit without a signed lease. A standard lease template (standardlejekontrakt) exists, in Danish and in English.
3. Check the amounts requested at signing: deposit of at most 3 months' rent, prepaid rent of at most 3 months. Heating, water and gas are generally not included in the rent: they are billed in advance payments (aconto) then settled.
4. Attend the move-in inspection (indflytningssyn). A landlord who lets more than one home must carry it out and give you a report (indflytningsrapport), no later than 2 weeks after the visit if you were not there.
5. Report defects in writing within 2 weeks of moving in, otherwise you may no longer be able to rely on them (except for a defect not visible on a normal inspection).
6. Register at your new address (CPR register, see DK-NIF-TOUS-001) and put your name on the letterbox.
7. Apply for housing benefit (boligstøtte) if you rent a home with its own kitchen or kitchenette and your income is modest: online, with Udbetaling Danmark (the public benefits agency), using MitID.
8. To leave, give your notice in writing. Notice is in principle 3 months, ending at the end of a month (1 month for a room rented in your landlord's home). The prepaid rent then covers your last months.
9. Move-out inspection (fraflytningssyn): a landlord who lets more than one home must organise it no later than 2 weeks after learning of your departure and summon you in writing at least 1 week beforehand. Provide your new address no later than 8 days before leaving.

Documents

• ID document, and often proof of income or employment contract (depending on the landlord).
• The signed lease (keep it: you will also need it for the CPR).
• The move-in inspection report, and your dated photos.
• For housing benefit: MitID, lease, household income and assets.

Costs and timelines

• Security deposit: at most 3 months' rent for an apartment or a room (lejeloven, § 59). In practice, Lifeindenmark mentions 1 month for a room and 3 months for an apartment.
• Prepaid rent: at most 3 months, and never more than the rent due during your notice period. You "use it up" at the end of the lease.
• Total to plan for at move-in: up to 3 months' deposit + 3 months prepaid + the first rent. If the rent increases later, the landlord can adjust the deposit and the prepaid rent, in instalments.
• Deposit loan (indskudslån): your municipality must in principle grant it if you move into social housing built after 1 April 1964 and the household income stays below the 2026 ceilings: DKK 302,677 per year for an apartment, DKK 205,040 for a room, plus DKK 53,100 per child (up to 4). It may refuse, for example if you have enough savings to pay the deposit or if the rent exceeds half of the household income.
• Housing benefit: non-taxable, calculated according to the rent (excluding service charges), the floor area, household composition, income and assets. Paid on the first working day of the month.
• Appeals: DKK 367 (2026) to refer a matter to the huslejenævn, DKK 172 (2026) for the beboerklagenævn. Written complaint, in the municipality of the home.
• Tenant's notice: 3 months in general; termination by the landlord: in principle only on the grounds provided for by law (demolition, taking back the home to live in it themselves…), with at least 1 year's notice when they take the home back for themselves (§ 170 provides for cases with no ground to justify, such as a room in the landlord's home). You have 6 weeks to contest a landlord's termination in writing.

Common pitfalls

• Paying before having a lease. Fraudulent adverts are numerous: no signed lease, no transfer.
• Deposit or advance payment above 3 months. This is illegal. You can claim the overpayment before the huslejenævn, no later than 1 year after you leave.
• Forgetting the 2-week deadline to report defects at move-in: repairs could be charged to you on leaving.
• The fixed-term lease. It ends on the agreed date without notice, but you cannot leave it earlier unless the lease provides for it. Read the clause before signing.
• A clause that prevents you from terminating. The law leaves you free to terminate "unless otherwise agreed": check that no firm-commitment clause (uopsigelighed) has been added.
• Return of the deposit. The law ties the return to the condition of the home: the landlord can only claim repairs from you if they noted them in the move-out report, and more than 2 weeks after the move-out inspection, they can no longer add any (except for a hidden defect or fraud). No fixed return deadline appears in the texts read: the landlord returns the deposit when your lease ends, minus the repairs they noted; a dispute is settled before the huslejenævn (for an amount collected in excess, the claim must be brought before the huslejenævn within the year following your departure, § 40 of the current act).
• What does not fall within the boards' remit: termination, subletting or rent reduction for defects go to the housing court (boligret).
• Faroe Islands and Greenland: the lejeloven does not apply there; they have their own rules.

What changes by country of origin

• All countries: the rental rules are the same whatever your nationality.
• Housing benefit: you can apply as soon as you live permanently in the home, even for a fairly short stay; Udbetaling Danmark writes in Danish, plan for a translation.
• British citizens (Scots included): same tenancy law; you only need a right of residence to register for the CPR (see DK-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).