Notice Period as a Tenant: How Much Time Do You Have?

Short answer: As a tenant you can give notice without a reason. The notice period is 3 months to the first working day of a month that isn't the day before a public holiday (section 175). Notice given on 10 March 2027 ends the tenancy on 1 July 2027. For a room in the landlord's own home, it's 1 month.

You've found a new place to live, and now it's about getting the timing right so you don't end up paying rent in two places for months.

How do you work out the notice period?

The notice period runs from the day your notice reaches the landlord. Count 3 months forward from there, then move on to the first working day of a month that isn't the day before a public holiday (section 175 of the Danish Rent Act, lejeloven). According to the bill's explanatory notes, you can still give notice to the 1st of the month 3 months later if your notice arrives by 12 noon on the 1st – provided the 1st is a working day that doesn't fall right before a public holiday.

When is the notice period only 1 month?

If you rent a single room that is part of the landlord's own flat, or part of a one- or two-family house the landlord lives in, the notice period is 1 month – for both you and the landlord (section 175(1) and section 170, no. 1, of the Rent Act). A separate room that isn't part of the landlord's own home, such as a klubværelse (a self-contained room), has the ordinary 3 months.

Can your lease change the notice period?

Yes, in both directions. The lease can give you a shorter notice period – or bind you for a period in which you can't give notice (uopsigelighed, a lock-in period). It must be written in section 11 of Typeformular A, the standard lease. If your lease is fixed-term, it ends automatically on the agreed date, but you can't give notice to end it early either, unless the lease allows it (section 173 of the Rent Act). Read more in our guide to fixed-term leases.

How do you give notice?

• In writing. Typeformular A requires both parties to give notice in writing. Email is generally fine, because the parties may communicate digitally – unless you or the landlord has asked for paper post with 1 month's notice, or one of you is exempt from Digital Post, the public digital mailbox (section 13 of the Rent Act).
• State the date you are giving notice to, and ask the landlord to confirm receipt. That's your proof of when the notice period started.
• If you're married and the flat is your shared home, you may not give notice without your spouse's consent (section 169(2) of the Rent Act).

Can you move out early?

You can move out before the notice period ends, but you remain liable for rent for the whole notice period. In return, the landlord must try to re-let the home, and whatever the landlord gets, or should have got, from re-letting is deducted from your debt (section 175(3) of the Rent Act). The landlord chooses the new tenant – you aren't automatically released because you find a replacement yourself. But if the landlord turns down a suitable replacement without good reason, that can count towards what the landlord should have got from re-letting. Talk to the landlord early, and put it in writing if you agree on an earlier move-out.

What should you remember during the notice period?

• Prepaid rent: If you paid prepaid rent, you are entitled to set it off against the rent for the final months (section 59(3) of the Rent Act). Tell the landlord in writing that you are doing so.
• Viewings: You must let the landlord show the home, but you set the times – at least 2 hours every other working day, at a time that suits a viewing (section 186 of the Rent Act). See our guide to the landlord's access to your flat.
• New address: At least 8 days before you move out, give the landlord the address that post and claims can be sent to.
• Move-out day: The home must be vacated by 12 noon (section 187 of the Rent Act).

How this fits with LejLet.nu

If you're still looking for your next place, you can set up a search agent on LejLet.nu and get an email the moment a home matching your search is published. Wait to give notice until you have a signed lease for the new home – that way you're not left without a roof over your head if something falls through.

Sources

• The Danish Rent Act (lejeloven, Act no. 341 of 22 March 2022) (opens in a new tab)
• Bill L 47 (2021-22) with explanatory notes on notice periods (opens in a new tab)
• Typeformular A, 10th edition (opens in a new tab)