As with many other new initiatives, Airbnb has, in a modern word, “disrupted” the Danish market for renting out primarily leisure rentals. This presents some challenges, as the relationship between the new opportunities and the legislation is unclear to many. With this article I will try to provide an overview of when you can rent out via Airbnb and when you can’t.
This section looks at cases where a tenant of a rental property wishes to sublet all or part of the rental property via Airbnb. Since the tenant is not the owner of the rental property, but only the tenant, there will usually be some restrictions on subletting.
Regardless of the size of the rental, as a tenant you are always allowed to sublet up to half of your rental property for residential purposes. The conditions are that a maximum of half of the rooms may be sublet, and that no more people may live in the apartment than there are rooms. This means that if a couple already lives in a 2-room apartment, you are not allowed to sublet a room, as this would result in too many residents in the rental property.
The lease must be in writing, and the landlord must have a copy of the sublease agreement. However, the landlord cannot object to subletting unless too many people will be living in the apartment.
In a judgment from 2004, the Eastern High Court concluded that subletting rooms in a rental apartment on a “day-to-day” basis was not covered by the tenant’s right to partial subletting in section 69 of the Tenancy Act, but was to be considered commercial letting. The judgment is practically relevant today, as this is precisely what many tenants do via Airbnb, as Airbnb is primarily used for short-term letting. The judgment from 2004 thus completely establishes that partial subletting via Airbnb for leisure purposes is not covered by the tenant’s right to sublet.
This is in line with the provision in Section 69 of the Tenancy Act that subletting must be for "residence", which means that the subtenant must intend to use the sublet as a permanent residence. The same rule is found in Section 64 of the General Tenancy Act.
The conclusion is that you may not partially sublet your private rental home via Airbnb, unless it is a long-term rental agreement where the tenant registers his residence at the address. In the event of illegal subletting, the landlord can send the tenant a demand that the subletting be terminated. If this does not happen, the landlord can terminate the rental agreement.
Under certain conditions, which appear from Section 70 of the Tenancy Act and Section 65 of the General Tenancy Act, you may sublet your entire rental home while you live somewhere else.
The conditions are:
In properties with fewer than 13 residential units, the landlord can always oppose complete subletting.
So there are many restrictions on when you can sublet your entire apartment, and more than when subletting partially.
Also for complete subletting, the subtenant must have the purpose of permanently residing in the leased property. In other words, with complete subletting, the leased property cannot be rented out as a holiday home via, for example, Airbnb.
The conclusion is, as with partial subletting, that you may not completely sublet your private rental home via Airbnb, unless it is a long-term rental agreement where the tenant registers their residence at the address.
In the event of illegal subletting, the landlord may send the tenant a demand that the subletting be terminated. If this does not happen, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement.
A single room in a private or public tenancy can be sublet according to the rules on complete subletting if the conditions for this are met. On the other hand, you may not sublet a dormitory room at all. The conditions for renting a dormitory room are usually that you are enrolled as a student at an educational institution. This means that only people who meet these requirements may live in a dormitory room.
Dormitory rooms are reserved for the residents who have been allocated them, and they may not be occupied by anyone other than students. For dormitories rented out by public housing associations, the rule follows section 77 of the Public Housing Act.
The starting point is that as the owner of a permanent residential property, you decide whether to rent it out and to whom. However, there may be a number of restrictions that are determined either by the authorities or the homeowners' association or cooperative housing association where the property is located.
It would be impossible to list all the rules in the legislation that may limit an owner's right to rent out their property. If you want to be sure, you should check the land register for the property to see if there is anything here that may limit renting out in the form of an easement on the property or a registered local plan. Many local plans contain provisions that the properties in the area must be used for year-round residence, which is an obstacle to short-term rentals. However, the rule does not prevent long-term rentals to the same tenant.
If you own an apartment or a cooperative housing, the bylaws may state that renting is prohibited. It may also state that the home may only be used for year-round residence, and therefore not for short-term rental.
If you have any questions about renting out your rental or owner-occupied home, either via Airbnb or in general, you are always welcome to contact us. contact us.
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