Rent Out Your Home Temporarily – and Get It Back

Published September 21, 2026

Short answer: To be sure of getting your home back, use a fixed-term lease with a specific reason in your own circumstances, such as a posting abroad. It ends by itself on the end date (section 173 of the Danish Rent Act). Without one, you must give at least 1 year's notice to move back in – and that doesn't always work.

Anna has been offered 18 months at her company's office in Singapore. Her ejerlejlighed (condominium apartment) in Aarhus shouldn't sit empty, but she wants it back when she comes home. That's perfectly possible – if the lease is written correctly from the start.

Fixed-term lease: which reasons hold up?

A fixed-term lease (tidsbegrænset lejeaftale) ends without notice when the lease period expires (section 173(1) of the Danish Rent Act, lejeloven). But the fixed term must be sufficiently justified by your circumstances as the landlord. Otherwise boligretten (the housing court) can set it aside, and the tenant then has an ordinary, open-ended lease (section 173(3)).

The guidance to Typeformular A (the standard authorised lease form) gives a posting abroad and a temporary transfer as examples of a special reason. Other specific, temporary reasons of your own can also hold up, but the court assesses each case – a general wish to keep your options open is typically not enough. Write the end date and the reason in section 11 of the lease.

Two more things:

You can't end the lease early yourself. A fixed-term lease can't be terminated during the lease period unless that has been agreed, or the other party breaches the agreement (section 173(1)). If you might come home early, agree on a right to terminate – but then the ordinary notice rules apply.
Keep an eye on the end date. If the tenant stays on for more than 1 month after the expiry with your knowledge, without you having asked them to move, the tenancy continues without a time limit (section 173(2)). Send a written reminder in good time.

Terminating because you'll live there yourself: two different rules

Without a valid fixed term, you must give the tenant notice, and that requires a lawful reason. If you want to move back in, there are two routes:

Situation	Rule	Notice
Your own owner-occupied or cooperative home, which you owned when the lease was signed – and you own no other rented-out owner-occupied or cooperative homes	Section 170, no. 3	At least 1 year
All other homes	Section 171(1), no. 1, and section 172	At least 1 year

Under section 170, no. 3, the requirement is that you intend to live in the home yourself. Under section 171, you must also live there yourself – not a family member – and the termination must be reasonable given both parties' circumstances, including how long you've owned the property and the tenant's chances of finding somewhere else (section 172).

The notice must be in writing and sent on paper, not by email (section 13(2)). It must inform the tenant of the right to object – and under section 171 also state the reason – or it's invalid. The notice runs to the first weekday of a month that isn't the day before a public holiday (section 175(2)). If the tenant objects in writing within 6 weeks, you must bring a case before boligretten no later than 6 weeks after the tenant's deadline (section 176).

Ejerlejlighed: the extra requirements

If you want to terminate under section 171 and the home is an ejerlejlighed, three conditions must be met (section 172, no. 4):

The lease was signed after the building was divided into condominium apartments.
At the start of the tenancy, the tenant was told that it's an ejerlejlighed and that the lease can be terminated because the landlord wants to live there.
You have lived in the flat yourself before.

Write point 2 into section 11 of the lease from the start. Also check the owners' association's bylaws, and whether the rent is regulated – see Renting Out an Ejerlejlighed.

Andelsbolig and rented home: get permission first

Andelsbolig (housing cooperative unit): Under ABF's standard bylaws, subletting requires the board's permission, which is only given for a temporary absence of normally no more than 2 years. See Can You Rent Out Your Andelsbolig?.
Rented home: You have the right to sublet the whole flat for up to 2 years when your absence is temporary and due to, for example, illness, a business trip, studies or a temporary transfer. Your landlord can object, however, among other things if the building has fewer than 13 flats (section 158). The sublease must be in writing, and your landlord must receive a copy before the sublet begins.

Tax: under or over 12 months?

When you let the whole home, 12 months is the decisive limit for tax:

Under 4 months: An allowance of 13,800 kr. (2026) and a 40% deduction on the rest (section 15 Q) – or accounts. This applies to owners, tenants and cooperative members alike.
4 to under 12 months: As above, or section 15 P. As an owner, the allowance is 1⅓% of the property value, at least 24,000 kr.; as a tenant or cooperative member, ⅔ of your own annual rent or housing charge.
12 months or more: If you own the home, it's business letting, with accounts, personal income and no property value tax during the period. Tenant or cooperative member: personal income after deducting your own rent or housing charge.

The sections refer to the Danish Tax Assessment Act (ligningsloven). Anna will be away for 18 months, so for her it's business letting. See the full rundown in Tax on Renting Out Your Home.

Checklist before you rent out

Find out whether you're allowed to rent out: owners' association, housing cooperative or your own landlord.
Check whether the rent is regulated.
Use Typeformular A, 10th edition, and write the end date and the reason for the fixed term in section 11.
Consider a right to terminate if you might come home early.
Keep the deposit to at most 3 months' rent, and prepaid rent within both 3 months and the tenant's notice period.
Update your preliminary income assessment, and choose a tax method.
Put a reminder in your calendar a couple of months before the end date.

How to use LejLet.nu

When you create the listing on LejLet.nu, you can untick "Unlimited rental period" and enter the rental period in months. The rental period is then shown on the listing, but the reason isn't – write it in the listing text, e.g. "Available for 18 months due to a posting abroad". LejLet.nu doesn't draw up the lease – the fixed term and its reason must be in the lease itself.