Renting
Who pays for repairs in a Danish rental
The rules sit in the Danish Rent Act, lejeloven, and in the lease you signed. This page is the practical split residents ask about. It is not a reading of your contract. If the lease and this page disagree, the lease and the Act win.
The usual split
| Danish | In this context |
|---|---|
| udlejer | landlord |
| lejer | tenant |
| vedligeholdelse | maintenance |
| indvendig vedligeholdelse | inside maintenance, sometimes placed on the tenant |
| depositum | deposit |
| mangler | defects the landlord should fix |
| huslejenævn | the local rent board |
The landlord keeps the building in a usable condition. The roof, the risers, and heating that belongs to the building are typical landlord items. Inside maintenance can be moved to the tenant when the lease says so. That often covers painting and filling walls. It does not mean you replace a failed water pipe at your own cost.
A new kitchen, a new wall, or a lock cylinder the landlord cannot open are changes. Write to the landlord before you hire someone. Keep the reply. In an owners’ association (ejerforening) or a housing co-operative (andelsbolig), the building’s outside and the shared pipes may be the association’s, not yours.
If you disagree
The local huslejenævn handles many rent and maintenance disputes. You find it through the municipality, the kommune. Bring the lease, photos, and the letters you already sent. Do not stop paying rent as a way to start the argument. For a private hire that has nothing to do with the landlord, a contract dispute with the firm is a different path, described on when the work goes wrong.