Rent Control Board (Huslejenævnet)
Disputes between a resident and landlord of a private tenement house can be brought before the Rent Control Board (Huslejenævnet).
When you bring a case before the Rent Control Board, this must be done in writing accompanied by a clarification of the matter to be considered by the board. Your approach must be in Danish.
You must attach:
- Tenancy agreement including appendixes, if any
- Any relevant correspondence pertaining to the matter
- Power of attorney from other residents if the tenancy agreement features more residents
- Your current address and telephone number
- Proof of paid fee (screenshot of the transaction)
If possible, we prefer to receive the material as one collective PDF file.
Send the case to the Rent Control Board as secure mail (Digital Post) or hand it in at Citizen Service (Borgerservice) at Dokk1.
Who should pay for the broken oven? Or the renovation of the basement? And are you paying too much rent?
If you have a disagreement with your tenant/landlord about an issue concerning your rental property, the Rental Control Board is here to help.
Send in your case and the Rental Control Board will help make a decision.
You must pay a fee in the amount of DKK 357 (2024) for bringing a case before the Rent Control Board.
The fee is to be paid into this account:
- Registration number: 2211
- Account number: 3485942350
Remember to state your name in connection with your payment.
This fee will not be refunded, even if you should be successful in this action, in whole or in part.
The landlord must pay the Rent Control Board a fee in the amount of DKK 6,827 (2024) in the event of the resident being fully successful in his/her action.
The fees are subject to adjustment every 1 January.
Your case will be forwarded to the counterpart upon the Rent Control Board’s reception of the case. The counterpart will then have a time limit of 2 weeks to present his side of the case.
The Rent Control Board shall decide whether further examination of the matter will be required and shall obtain information from the parties to the case, from public authorities, or other relevant bodies.
The board may, moreover, make an inspection of the property or the flat in question. In such a case, both parties will be summoned to participate in the inspection with no less than one week’s notice.
The board will make its decision when the matter has been sufficiently examined. This decision will be sent to the landlord and resident and their representatives, if relevant.
The average review period is approximately 3 months. However, this period may be shorter or longer, depending on the nature of the case. Review periods for matters pertaining to house rules will typically be short.
The Rent Control Board for instance deals with cases pertaining to:
- The size of the rent
- Rent increases
- Return of deposits
- Lack of maintenance, renewal, and cleaning
- The resident’s restoration obligation upon his/her vacation from the residence
- Improvements
- Utility accounts
- Balance sheets for accounts allocated for interior and exterior maintenance
- Violation of house rules (can only be brought before the board by the landlord)
- Preliminary approvals
- Questions regarding the landlord's right to access the rental property
- Disagreements on the tenant's right to install or right of disposal of interior (e.g. the installation of a dishwasher or changing the kitchen)
The Rent Control Board cannot assist with:
- Termination and cancellation of tenancies
- The resident’s right of use in connection with subletting, exchange, and the right of continuation of the tenancy
- The recovery of monetary claims
- General advice – comprising the size of the rent
- Absolute commercial tenancies
- Proportionate rent reduction as a result of deficiencies in connection with the tenancy
In the event of the Rent Control Board’s assessment that actual provision of evidence will be needed, the board shall dismiss the case and refer it to the Housing Court (Boligretten). Provision of evidence may for instance be the examination of witnesses, expert appraisal, and the similar.
Cases falling outside the Rent Control Board’s competence area can instead be brought before the Housing Court.
In connection with the submission of a case or in your reply to the Rent Control Board, you must send the following supplementary documentation and information.
Disagreement about the repayment of deposit
- Information on whether the landlord rented out more than one residential apartment at the time the agreement was concluded
- Any move-in report and list of deficiencies
- Tenant's termination
- Information on when the tenant has handed over keys, and/or when the landlord has become aware of the tenant moving
- Information on whether the landlord rented out more than one residential apartment at the time of vacating
- Invitation to move-out inspection and move-out report
- Documentation that the formal rules in Section 187(2-4) of the Rent Act have been complied with
- Documentation that the landlord has suffered a loss (invoice, offer or similar regarding repair costs)
- Documentation that the renovation was required (any photo material from moving out)
- Move-out report
Dispute about utilities accounts
- Utilities accounts for the period in question
- Documentation that there has been consumption during the period, for example a copy of a bill from the utility company
- Consumption allocation account for the property
- Any statement from the meter company
Complaint about the amount of the rent
- The amount of the rent at the time of submission, excluding consumption
- Information on whether the rent is regulated, including what the rent is regulated to
- Any provision according to which the rent must be determined
- Information about improvements in the tenancy, including when they were made and the costs thereof
Both resident and landlord can bring a complaint against the decision made by the Rent Control Board (Boligretten).
If you wish to make a complaint about the decision you must, within a period of four weeks, bring the case before the Housing Court.
Go to the website of Boligretten (in Danish)
Preliminary approval of rent
If you own an owner-occupied residence or an owner-partnership flat, you can ask for the Rent Control Board’s preliminary approval of such rent as you may legally be able to charge for the residence.
Ownership of other rented tenancies on the date of application shall not be permitted.
You will be charged a fee in the amount of DKK 596 (2024).
Scheme for preliminary approval of rent - 2024 (in Danish)
Send the scheme to the Rent Control Board via Digital Post.
Preliminary approval of extensive improvement of the tenancy
Prior to any extensive improvement of a tenancy for the purpose of increasing the rent, the Rent Control Board shall, upon inspection, determine whether the tenancy is of a condition that will enable a substantial increase in the tenancy’s value.
The Rent Control Board shall perform their inspection within a period of 4 weeks from the reception of application and documentation for paid fee.
Bringing in a case before the board shall amount to DKK 4,552 (2024) (per tenancy). This amount is set out in s. 39 (2) of the Rent Adjustment Act (boligforholdsloven) and shall be subject to annual adjustment every 1 January.
This fee shall be paid into account no. 2211 3485 942 350. Please remember to attach documentation of payment when submitting your inspection request.
The Rent Control Board shall submit their decision no later than 2 weeks after the inspection. The decision shall remain valid for a period of 3 years.
If you desire the board’s inspection of a residence, please send the Rent Control Board an e-mail via Digital Post. Your mail shall contain the address of the tenancy.
Standard figures
When preparing your 2025 (average per year) budget for operational expenses, you can apply these recommended standard figures.
Standard figures from previous years:
The Rent Control Board is an impartial body that settles disputes between residents and landlords.
The board has one chair of legal background. The complaints board has two additional members, each representing the major housing and tenants’ associations within the municipality.
Members of the Rent Control Board
Northern board:
Chair: Hans Henrik Edlund
Deputy: Susanne Kier
Landlord representative: Flemming Mørk Pedersen
Deputy: Annie Bodum
Resident representative: Niels Danstrup
Deputy: Jeanette Hyttel Nielsen
Southern board:
Chair: Michael Bech Jørgensen
Deputy: Niels Otto Jensen
Landlord representative: Peter Lautrup
Deputy: Ulla Nygaard
Resident representative: Kjeld Gunder Christensen
Deputy: Britt Hagelskær Iversen
The Rent Control Board is an impartial body. Hence, the board is in no position to provide advice as such, neither to one nor the other party.
The Rent Control Board solely provides advice on:
- the type of cases you can bring before the board
- practical matters pertaining to the procedure of a case heard by the board
- information pertaining to concrete legislation
If you need additional advice, you can contact a lawyer, a residents’ organisations, a housing association organisation, or free legal aid.
Rent Control Board (Huslejenævnet)
Telephone hours
Monday - Friday: 12.00 - 14.00
Dokk1
Hack Kampmanns Plads 2
8000 Aarhus C
Phone:
89 40 22 70