Maintenance in a Rental Home: Who Pays for What?

Published September 21, 2026

Short answer: Unless the lease says otherwise, the landlord handles all maintenance – interior and exterior – and you only maintain locks and keys (section 112 of the Danish Rent Act). A landlord with the interior maintenance of an apartment must set aside 54 kr. per m² (2026) a year in a maintenance account. The lease can transfer interior maintenance to you.

The paint is peeling in the bedroom, the fridge has stopped cooling, and the basement lock is playing up. Who pays? The answer is rarely in the Rent Act alone – it depends on what your lease says.

Interior or Exterior – What's the Difference?

Interior maintenance (indvendig vedligeholdelse) means whitewashing, painting, wallpapering and treating floors (section 111(2) of the Rent Act) – including painting radiators, doors, frames and skirting boards. Everything else is exterior maintenance (udvendig vedligeholdelse): the roof, facade and windows, but also installations for water, heating, electricity and drains and, according to the explanatory notes to the law, the fixtures and appliances the home is let with, such as the fridge and cooker.

Who Is Responsible If the Lease Says Nothing?

Task	Without an agreement	Can you agree otherwise?
Painting, wallpaper and floor treatment	The landlord	Yes – see section 8 of Typeformular A
Appliances, fixtures and installations	The landlord	As a special term in section 11 – but not in every property
Locks and keys	You	–

Agreements that you must maintain more than locks and keys – such as appliances or taps – must be written under special terms in section 11 of the lease (Typeformular A, the standard authorised lease form). In many properties in regulated municipalities, exterior maintenance can't be transferred to the tenant at all, except for the garden (section 115(2) of the Rent Act). Whoever has the duty, maintenance must be carried out as often as required given the nature of the property and the home (section 112(1)).

What Is the Maintenance Account, and When Can You Use It?

If the landlord has the interior maintenance of an apartment, they must set aside 54 kr. per m² of gross floor area (2026, adjusted annually) every year in a maintenance account for your particular apartment (section 117 of the Rent Act). The rule applies nationwide, including in unregulated municipalities, but according to the explanatory notes not to single rooms.

For a 70 m² apartment, that's 3,780 kr. a year at the 2026 rate.
You must receive a written statement of the balance no later than 3 months after the end of each financial year (section 117(4)), and when you move in, the landlord must tell you what's in the account (section 117(6)).
You can require the landlord to paint, wallpaper or treat floors when it's necessary and the money is in the account (section 118(1)). The landlord chooses the tradespeople, and you can't do the work yourself and send the bill without an agreement.
If the account holds more than 3 years' worth of allocations and the apartment is well maintained, you can require the surplus to be spent on other reasonable maintenance work in the apartment (section 118(2)).
If you've taken over part of the interior maintenance yourself, the amount is reduced proportionally (section 117(2)).

Important: once the tenancy has been terminated – by you or by the landlord – you can no longer require the account to be used (section 118(3)). Use it before you give notice.

The Landlord Won't Repair – What Do You Do?

Report the fault to the landlord. Damage that needs urgent repair must be reported immediately, other damage without undue delay (section 149(3) of the Rent Act). If you wait, you can become liable for consequential damage yourself.
Ask the landlord in writing to repair the fault within a reasonable deadline, and keep the correspondence.
If the landlord doesn't repair it immediately after your formal demand (påkrav), you can, as a starting point, have the defect repaired yourself at the landlord's expense (section 95(1)). If the landlord later disputes that there was a defect, that's your risk – so get quotes and document everything.
You can take the case to huslejenævnet (the local rent tribunal), which can order the landlord to carry out specific work by a deadline – and reduce the rent if the deadline isn't met (section 114(2)). The fee is 367 kr. (2026).
A proportional rent reduction while the defect lasts (section 95(2)) is decided by boligretten (the housing court), not by huslejenævnet.

If you're without heating, hot water, electricity or water, you can also contact the municipality, which under the rules in boligforholdsloven (the Housing Conditions Act) can arrange for the supply to be restored (section 95(1)).

What Does It Mean When You Move Out?

The maintenance duty and refurbishment at move-out go hand in hand. If you have the interior maintenance, you must catch up on neglected painting and floor treatment when you move out – but you never have to leave the home in better condition than when you got it (section 187(1) of the Rent Act). If the landlord has the duty, you're only liable for damage and for locks and keys. The maintenance account stays with the apartment and carries over to the next tenant (section 117(6)). Read more in Wear and Tear vs. Damage and The Move-Out Inspection.