If Danish is your second language but you feel comfortable enough with it to use in official correspondences, knowing a few key technical words can enable you to put your existing proficiency to reliable use.
Looking for rental housing could be one such situation. In our personal experience, landlords can entirely refuse to communicate in English.
Even in less difficult situations, knowing the right words can make it easier to understand and correctly react to posts on rental housing sites like Boligsiden, when you want to be quick and efficient at responding.
We’ve put together an outline of some of these words, their meanings and the context in which you might use them. If there’s anything important you think we’ve missed, let us know.
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Rent
From the verb to rent (to rent), the rent is the rent you pay on a property. Related words include tenant (tenant), landlord (landlord), lease (rental contract) and sublease (sublet).
Other compound words and phrases involving rent are found in rental agreements. You’re unlikely to find them elsewhere but they are important for understanding you contract properly. For example, you will be obliged to move out of the tenancy (property) on the date set by a time-limited rental agreement (fixed-period rental agreement).
Termination
Termination of a rental contract is termination in Danish. This normally applies to giving notice when moving out of your apartment, but your contract can also be terminated (terminated) by a landlord if you have breached the terms in a way that gives them the legal basis to do this.
You can find more on the legal ins and outs of this here (in Danish).
You might recognise the word from the related to quit (to quit), usually used when handing in a notice at a job.
Deposit/deposit
The deposit you must pay before moving in is known in Danish as either the deposit or security deposit. You’re also likely to be required to stump up prepaid rent (rent upfront).
Rental contracts can stipulate up to three months of rent upfront, and deposits can also be as much as three months’ rent, meaning you can be faced with paying eye-watering costs equivalent to six months of rent before even getting the keys to your flat.
People who live in subsidised rental housing (public housing) can apply to the local municipality for a special loan to pay these moving-in costs. The interest on the rent is very low and it is usually only paid back when you are returned your deposit (or what’s left of it) after moving out.
Housing benefit
Literally ‘housing support’, housing allowance is a deduction to your rent which takes the form of money paid into your account by the state. You can qualify for it depending on a number of criteria including your income, the size of the property you rent, and how many people are living there (and contributing to the rent).
Tenants in both private and subsidised rental homes can qualify for the subsidy, which must be applied for digitally via the Borger.dk platform.
Youth housing
You are allowed to live in an youth housing (‘youth housing’) if you are enrolled in full time education.
Such housing can be found either with regular housing associations or by applying for an apartment with youth housing associations in the cities in Denmark which have universities and other major educational institutions.
There can be a long waiting list before you are offered an apartment through this route, and you may find a dorm room (room in student halls) is your first point of call for living in Denmark as a student. But various personal factors, including your studies, financial and social situations are taken into account when you apply for a student flat.
You can see a list of the various youth housing associations in Danish university cities here.
READ ALSO: Five key things to know about renting in Denmark