How to Give a Tenant Notice as a Landlord
Short answer: You can only give notice on the grounds in the Danish Rent Act (lejeloven), each with its own notice period: from 1 month for a room in your own home to at least 1 year if you'll live there. As a rule, send it on paper, state the ground and say the tenant can object within 6 weeks.
One landlord needs to move back into their own flat after a divorce. Another has a tenant who hasn't paid rent for two months. Both situations are about ending a tenancy – but they follow two different tracks in the law, and if you confuse them, you risk ending up without a valid termination when it matters.
What is the difference between opsigelse and ophævelse?
Opsigelse (termination with notice) ends the tenancy going forward, with a notice period, and only on one of the grounds the law lists exhaustively. Ophævelse (immediate termination) ends the tenancy at once, without notice – but requires a material breach by the tenant. The two can't be used interchangeably: late rent doesn't give you the right to terminate immediately until you've followed the statutory påkrav (formal payment demand) procedure.
Which grounds can you give notice on?
The notice period depends on the ground (sections 170, 171 and 175 of the Rent Act):
- A single room in your own flat, or in a one- or two-family house you live in yourself: 1 month's notice, and you don't need to give a reason (section 170, no. 1; section 175(1)).
- A flat in a house with only two flats, where you live in the other one: at least 1 year's notice (section 170, no. 2; section 175(2)).
- Your own owner-occupied or co-op home, which you owned when the lease was signed, and you don't own any other let owner-occupied or co-op homes: at least 1 year's notice, if you want to live there yourself (section 170, no. 3; section 175(2)).
- You want to live in the home yourself (other tenancies): at least 1 year's notice. It must be you personally – not a family member – who is going to live there, and the termination must be reasonable in light of both parties' circumstances, including how long you've owned the property and the tenant's prospects of finding another home (sections 171 and 172 of the Rent Act). For a condominium apartment (ejerlejlighed), the tenant must also have been told on moving in that the home is one and can be terminated on this ground, and you must previously have lived in it yourself (section 172, no. 4).
- The building must be demolished, with documentation, or rebuilt in special cases (such as conversion to social housing or expropriation): 3 months' notice (section 171(1), no. 2). Ordinary modernisation is not a ground for termination.
- Staff housing, where the tenant's employment has ended and the home is needed for another employee: 3 months' notice.
- The tenant has breached good order and conduct so seriously that moving out is necessary: 3 months' notice. Document what happens, and send written reminders along the way.
- The tenant has twice or more failed to comply with final decisions of huslejenævnet (the local rent tribunal), or other weighty reasons make it particularly important for you to be released from the tenancy: 3 months' notice (section 171(1), nos. 5 and 8).
If you live in the building yourself and give notice in order to move into the tenant's flat, you must at the same time offer the tenant your own flat (section 172, no. 6). For several of the grounds, you must also offer the tenant another flat in the building if one becomes vacant within 3 months of the move-out date (section 174).
If you're unsure which ground really covers your situation, have it assessed before you send the notice – a notice based on the wrong ground can be ruled invalid.
Which formal rules apply to the notice?
A notice under section 170, nos. 2 and 3, and section 171 must be in writing and tell the tenant about their right to object. For a notice under section 171, the ground must also be stated. The notice must be sent on paper – it may not be sent as email or any other digital message (section 13(2)). If the information about the tenant's right to object is missing, or, for a notice under section 171, the ground, the notice is invalid. If the tenant objects within 6 weeks, you must bring a case before boligretten (the housing court) no later than 6 weeks after the tenant's deadline (section 176).
Send the notice by registered post, or hand it over in person, so you can prove when it arrived. If you are giving notice on a room in your own home, the formal rules in section 176 don't apply, but if you use Typeformular A the notice must be in writing (section 2 of the lease) – send it on paper too, to be on the safe side.
Ophævelse: when the tenant is in breach
Immediate termination is typically used for unpaid rent, but only after a fixed procedure: you must send a written påkrav – no earlier than after the 3rd working day following the last day for timely payment – giving the tenant 14 days to pay and stating expressly that the tenancy can be terminated if the arrears aren't paid within the deadline (section 182(2) of the Rent Act). The påkrav must also be sent on paper (section 13(2)), and you can charge a påkrav fee of 335 kr. (2026, adjusted annually). If the tenant pays before your termination reaches them, you can't terminate. The whole process is set out step by step in our guide to tenants who don't pay rent.
Other grounds for immediate termination include the tenant using the home for something other than agreed and continuing despite your objection, refusing you access you are entitled to, subletting without being entitled to, or seriously breaching good order and conduct, for example through violence or threats against neighbours (section 182(1)).
What do you do if the tenant won't move out?
Neither a notice nor an immediate termination gives you the right to change the locks or remove the tenant's belongings yourself. If the tenant refuses to move out, the case must go through fogedretten (the bailiff's court), which can carry out an eviction. If the tenant has objected to a notice, you first need the housing court's decision. Contact a lawyer or a landlords' association at this stage – this is where formal errors typically cost the most.