Can a Landlord Just Terminate Your Lease?

Short answer: As a rule, no. A room in the landlord's own home: 1 month's notice, no reason needed. If the landlord lives in the other flat of a two-family house, or wants to move into their own owned or co-op flat that you rent, notice is at least 1 year. Otherwise a statutory ground is needed.

A letter from your landlord headed "Opsigelse" (notice of termination) can make your stomach drop. But far from every termination holds up, and some tenants move out even though they weren't obliged to. Here's what the landlord may do, and what you should do.

When can the landlord give notice without a specific reason?

For ordinary homes, the Danish Rent Act (lejeloven) has three situations in which the landlord has a special right to give notice (section 170 of the Rent Act):

The last rule only applies if the landlord owned the home when you signed the lease, and doesn't own any other let owner-occupied or co-op homes when giving notice. Under the two 1-year rules, the notice must be in writing and tell you about your right to object – otherwise it is invalid (sections 175 and 176).

What other grounds can the landlord use?

For all other tenancies, the landlord can only give notice on one of the grounds listed in the law (section 171 of the Rent Act). The most important are:

• The landlord wants to live in the home: at least 1 year's notice. It must be the landlord personally – not a family member – and the termination must be reasonable in light of both parties' circumstances, including how long the landlord has owned the property and your prospects of finding another home (section 172). If the home is a condominium apartment (ejerlejlighed), you must also have been told when you moved in that it is one and can be terminated on this ground, and the landlord must previously have lived in it.
• The building must be demolished, with documentation, or rebuilt in special cases, such as conversion to social housing or expropriation: 3 months' notice. Ordinary modernisation is not a ground for termination.
• Staff housing: Your employment has ended and the home is needed for another employee: 3 months' notice.
• You have breached good order and conduct so seriously that your moving out is necessary, or you have repeatedly failed to comply with decisions of huslejenævnet (the local rent tribunal): 3 months' notice.
• Other weighty reasons that make it particularly important for the landlord to be released from the tenancy.

If the landlord lives in the building and gives you notice in order to move into your flat, the landlord must at the same time offer you the landlord's own flat. If several people own the building together, they can only give notice to the tenant of one flat (section 172, nos. 6 and 7). For several of the grounds, the landlord must also offer you another flat in the building if one becomes vacant within 3 months of your move-out date (section 174).

What does a valid notice look like?

• It's in writing and sent on paper – not as email, text message or any other digital message (section 13(2) of the Rent Act).
• It tells you that you can object within 6 weeks.
• For termination under section 171, the ground is stated in the notice.
• If any of this is missing, the notice is invalid (section 176(1)).

These formal requirements don't apply when the landlord gives notice on a room in their own home (section 170, no. 1). If you use Typeformular A, however, that notice must still be in writing (section 2 of the lease).

What should you do if you receive a notice?

1. Check the formal requirements above, and note the day the notice reached you.
2. If you don't accept it, send a written objection on paper no later than 6 weeks after the notice reached you. Send it by registered post so you can prove it. If you miss the deadline, the landlord can as a rule go ahead with a valid termination.
3. The landlord must then bring a case before boligretten (the housing court) no later than 6 weeks after your deadline expires if the termination is to be upheld (section 176(2)). If the landlord doesn't, the termination can't be upheld.
4. Get advice early, for example from Lejernes LO (LLO, the Danish tenants' association), which advises its members. It's the housing court – not the rent tribunal – that decides whether a termination holds.

Deadlines and notice periods at a glance

Notice periods run to the first working day of a month that isn't the day before a public holiday (section 175 of the Rent Act).

What is the difference between opsigelse and ophævelse?

Ophævelse (immediate termination) ends the tenancy at once, without notice, and requires a material breach. The most common reason is unpaid rent – but only after a written påkrav (formal payment demand) on paper with a 14-day deadline, stating expressly that the tenancy can be terminated (section 182 of the Rent Act). If you pay the full arrears before the landlord's termination reaches you, the landlord can't terminate (section 183). Other grounds include refusing the landlord access they are entitled to, or seriously breaching good order and conduct. See our guide to the landlord's access to your flat.

What about a fixed-term lease?

If you have a fixed-term lease, it ends automatically on the agreed date – but the fixed term must be justified by the landlord's circumstances, otherwise the housing court can set it aside. And if you stay on for more than 1 month after it expires with the landlord's knowledge, without the landlord asking you to leave, the tenancy continues without a time limit (section 173(2)-(3) of the Rent Act). Read more in our guide to fixed-term leases.

Sources

• The Danish Rent Act (lejeloven), especially sections 13 and 170-176 (opens in a new tab)
• Bill L 47 (2021-22) with explanatory notes (opens in a new tab)
• Typeformular A, 10th edition, with guidance (opens in a new tab)