Renting in Denmark - All You Need to Know

It can be insanely hard to get a rental deal in Denmark, especially in a city like Copenhagen. Plus, a lot harder if it’s to be a good deal.

However, in this article, I will guide you through the essential information you need to know to succeed in the rental market: from finding a place, to everything you need to know about moving-in costs, and even touch a bit on renting laws.

I’m going to take the perspective of an expat who is just arriving to Denmark to work. But the video can also help people already living here and incoming students as well.

If you’re new here, my name is Mario - and I’m passionate about financial independence. In this channel I help people living in Denmark to save money, invest well and live a rich life.

Finding a Place

If you want to find a house or apartment, your go-to place, to start, will likely be BoligPortal. It’s an established website - it’s been there for 10+ years - with a nice interface and where you can search and filter for available properties.

You can search places for free, but the moment you want to contact a landlord, you’ll need to sign up for a BoligPortal subscription. That’s quite pricey, but, hey, it’s likely going to save you time as the website is the most complete.

I’ll get back to BoligPortal in a minute.

Beyond BoligPortal, yes, there are other websites. In my opinion, none of the other are worth it. The only exceptions are:

If you want a ROOM and not a full apartment, you could be lucky using Facebook. There are multiple Groups as Expats in Copenhagen where rooms are often posted. If you’re lucky you could even find a full apartment or house in Facebook, but that would be quite exceptional.
Also, if you come as a student you should check whether you can get any type of student accomodation. Contact the international office at the school or university, where you will be studying. If you can get into a dorm you’ll likely end up with a much better deal than renting in the open market.

Then, of course, if you move in with a company, they might offer a relocating service with agents that will help you find a place. If you don’t have that, my take is that you must ask your company to pay for BoligPortal. It will help you save some money at least…

Bolig Portal Screencast

So, in BoligPortal you can see the whole of Denmark, and filter properties in many ways. The website is both in Dansk and English, and is super straight-forward.
You can see the properties size, photos, location, facilities and more.
Let’s just check some random properties
You’ll see quickly that there are both individuals and also companies posting on BoligPortal.

It’s crucial that you’ve an updated and thorough profile. Despite it appears that there are a lot of properties, the market is super competitive especially for all those that because of price, location or other reasons are a good deal.

My recommendation is that you immediately contact multiple landlords once you find properties interesting.

ALSO - You can negotiate the rental prices as well. Not always, but, hey, every single condition you’ll see here is negotiable. It’s tricky for the very competitive properties, but at the high-end and in places with a lot of vacant houses definitely push hard.

Moving In

The only thing you must to sign before moving into an apartment is a rental agreement. To get that you’ll need your residency permit or CPR. But that’s it.
Now, when you move in it can be pricey. Landlords can request - and many often do - three months rent in advance and three months deposit paid upfront. This can soon be up to 100K or even more. Serious money.
- In this case, two notes: you can negotiate. In some places, to pre-pay three months rent is ridiculous. Push for one month instead.
- If you can’t negotiate and you don’t have the cash, there are companies are offering loans for this “moving in” setup. I wouldn’t recommend this as the loans could be quite pricey.
As for the Deposit:
- You'll usually pay it along with your first month's rent and it's usually equal to 1-3 months' rent. If your landlord asks for a deposit more than 3 months' rent, it might be a red flag.
- Your deposit is usually returned to you when you move out, but landlords might keep a part of it for maintenance and those costs are usually stated in your contract. Things like repainting walls or sanding floors are often taken from your deposit.
That clear, you’ll then pay either an all-in rent or pay a fixed rent and then utilities on top.
- Your rental agreement should clearly state which utilities you're responsible for paying and which are included in your rent. Usually, tenants pay for their own electric and gas, but sometimes the landlord covers those costs.

Last - You need to make sure your rental agreement clearly states how long it will last (it can also be indefinite, that’s a possibility), if there will be yearly increases and also when and how you’re expected to pay the rent. If the apartment or house is furnished it should be included here.

Rent Control

Now - Rentals, I’ve shown you, can be brutally expensive. But there’s a loophole: every house or apartment in Denmark that was built before 1992 is subject to rent control laws.

This means that landlords can pcan’t OFFICIALLY rent their apartment for more than a specific set amount, which depends on the kommune, on the size of the property, and on whether the place is furnished or not. In most places, this “controlled rent” is well below market value.
- For example, a 70sqm apartment in Copenhagen or Frederiksberg should cost around 7.000 kr. 100sqm less than 10.000 kr. This, of course, with a lot of caveats -- but it shouldn't cost a lot more.
LandlordsCan’t “Cheat” Rent Control. If you, as the tenant go to the government “rental board” (which is an institution), and the rental board inspects the property on your request and finds you’ve been paying more than you should have by law, the landlord will be obliged to:
(1) lower the tenants rent to the “official” level, and
(2) pay you back the difference between what he or she charged you and what the “official” level is for the accumulated time you have been living there. (Up to a limit, with caveats. But still...)

Because of this, many Danes will not rent to people they don’t know, trust or can sue them. So you’ll need to be quite lucky to get one of these deals.

But, remember, this only applies for properties built before 1992.

Buying a House

So, renting is crazy expensive and complicated. Buying a house can be a much better deal. Or, at least while interest rates were 1 or 2% and not now at 5% or 6%. But still, for me, once I crunched the numbers, it became a non-brainer.