9/4/2018 Survivor’s guide to finding housing in Aarhus – Aarhus – Medium

Terry Mun Follow

Amateur photographer, enthusiastic web developer, whimsical writer, recreational cyclist, and PhD
student in molecular biology. Sometimes clumsy. Aarhus, DK.
Jan 22, 2017 · 14 min read

Survivor’s guide to nding housing

in Aarhus
Congratulations, you are moving to Aarhus… without having actually a
place to call home, yet. Aarhus is an amazing city—it has earned the
liking of writers from New York Times, Forbes, Lonely Planet,
Telegraph, Conde Nast Traveler and many other publications;
surrounded by gently rolling hills and sitting by the sea of Kattegat;
enointed as one of the two cultural capital of Europe for 2017; and
hailed as the exporter of the Danish concept of hygge.

Sunrise from Guldsmedgade, from a penthouse apartment unit that very luckily got into my hands by dumb luck.

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Despite being rated one of the happinest city in
Europe, nding housing in Aarhus can be
frustratingly di cult.

B eing a predominantly student town, Aarhus faces an acute housing

shortage like many of its similar counterparts, ranging from
Cambridge that is just across the North Sea to Perth that is halfway
across the globe. The search for accommodation is a daunting task even
for locals, let alone for international students and expats alike moving
into the city.

I have written this guide, based mostly by my previous experience with

house searching experience, and by talking to my peers about the issue.
This article is by no means a legally binding document, nor does it
constitute legal advice. It is a collection of personal advice that is not
authoritative. In other words, use your common sense—even though I
tried my very best to impart as much of what I have into this article.

Disclaimer: this is an opinion piece based on my

personal experience, and does not constitute
legal advice.

. . .

For the less initiated

A list of quick links if you don’t want to go through the entire guide:

Housing search
• Student Housing Aarhus
(http://www.studenthousingaarhus.com)

• BoligPortal (http://www.boligportal.dk)

• Housing in Aarhus
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/housinginaarhus/)

• Lejligheder til salg og leje i Aarhus

(https://www.facebook.com/groups/minlejeboligaarhus/)

Home ownership and address validation

• Tinglysning; Register (https://www.tinglysning.dk/m/#/soeg)

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• Den O entlige Informationsserver; The Public Information
Server (https://ois.dk)

• Boligejer; Home ownership (http://boligejer.dk)

• Krak; “Crack”, a local search engine, might not contain up-to-date

results (Krak.dk)

Information and legal help

• The Danish court for legal aid and representation
(http://www.domstol.dk); refer to this page for housing-speci c
questions

• Layman’s interpreration of the updated Danish Rental Act (in

e ect since July 1st, 2015), by William Birgisson

. . .

The search: Sites and portals

You are a student
• Student Housing Aarhus
(http://www.studenthousingaarhus.com) is your best friend

• Expect a rent of between 2,500–4,000DKK, depending on room

type (single room, with/without en-suite bathroom and/or
kitchen)

• Apply early!

If you are a student looking for house, the trick is to start looking
early. In fact, once you have been accepted by an institution to
study, or receive an education, in Denmark, you are typically
automatically eligible to apply for student housing. Student Housing
Aarhus (“Ungdomsbolig Aarhus” in Danish) is the only organisation that
distributes and manages allocation of student housing in the city of
Aarhus.

Student Housing Aarhus allows you to create an application up to 6

months before the start of your education, but you need to be able to
provide proof showing that you have been accepted by one of their
approved educational institutions (most people I know are either
enrolled in Aarhus University or VIA University College, both of which
are accepted).

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The only exception is that if you are an exchange/Erasmus student:
that means you are likely be in the talks with the international student
services of your respective institutions, who will have a pre-allocated
but limited number of rooms to give out.

I was lucky enough to be given a room in Børglum Kollegiet in Risskov, during my stay in Aarhus as an
exchange student

There is no guarantee that the international student

services of your educational institution will provide
housing for you.

However, trust me that they are really trying their

very best.

When I was an exchange student with Aarhus University back in 2011, I

was lucky enough to be given a room in Børglum Kollegiet in Risskov.
It’s 15-minutes by bike from the university, close to amenities, and have
non-square rooms (so you can go all funkytown arranging furniture in
your rooms).

The trick to secure an apartment without toiling forever in the waiting

list is simply to aim low. You can register for popular dorms, but be
sure to include few of the less popular ones (those that are further out),
which have shorter waiting list. Your modus operandi will be to secure
a roof over your head rst, and then worry about travel distances and
conveniences later. When you are already in a dorm, you can still keep
your application, remove the lower ranking dorms, yet remain on the
waiting list for “nicer” ones.
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The legend goes Rose waited for an apartment-type dorm in Aarhus…

One-foot-in-the-door trick: Take advantage of

“internal moving” in dorms that o er units of
di erent types (rooms & apartments)

Some dormitories o er a mix of housing units, such as standalone

apartments (en suite kitchen and bathroom/toilet) and dorm rooms
(common kitchen, but bathrooms/toilets may be en suite). Standalone
apartment units typically have exorbitant waiting times close to the
expected heat death of the universe (joking, but they’re often >5
years) and the truth is, you never get to wait it out. Internal residents
get priority to “upgrading” via internal movement, meaning that the to-
be vacant units are often snapped up by pre-existing residents before
outsiders even get a chance. In other words, internally moving
residents are always pushed to the top of the waiting list. In lieu
with the “aim low” philosophy, gun for the dorm rooms rst—then
apply for internal movement at a later date.

Some helpful notes:

• Renew your application once a month, to accumulate seniority

which will place you higher on waiting lists. Create a calendar
noti cation for this monthly ritual—all you need is to log in every
month, no matter what day it is.

• You are only allowed to reject housing o ers 3 times before your
account is deactivated (read: you lose all accumulated seniority).

• Student Housing Aarhus is typically always swamped with

requests, and stand by stipulated rules. Request of leniencies &
exceptions and etc. fall upon deaf ears.

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You are employed (or if you’re a very desperate
Survivor’s guide to finding housing in Aarhus – Aarhus – Medium

student)
• BoligPortal (http://www.boligportal.dk) is your best friend. You
can also try these two Facebook groups: Housing in Aarhus and
Lejligheder til salg og leje i Aarhus (“Apartments for sale and rent
in Aarhus”)

• Expect a rent of between 3,000–5,500dkk for a single room in a

shared apartment

• Expect a rent of between 6,000–10,000dkk for a two-room

apartment; 8,500–15,000dkk for a three-room apartment. Prices
are dictated mostly be location, not amenities. Studio apartments
are uncommon to come by.

• Avoid the peak periods of November–January, and July–

September. These periods coincide with the start of university
semesters, which means very impossibly sti competition at price
points that students go for, between 2,500–5,500dkk.

• Try your luck, send applications in Danish (whenever

possible), and to as many places as you want

• Watch out for scams (see section below)

U nlike the sheltered existence of a student, you’re out and about in

the adult world. That means that you don’t get curated listings that
are guaranteed to be run by unscrupulous landlords or truthful, honest
folks.

Typically, posters are swamped with a motherload of messages and are

quickly overwhelmed by requests when their listing goes live. In other
words, they do not have the time nor the incentive to process and
reply every single message they receive.

The modus operandi is straightforward.

Pick the rst 25 respondents, interview those who

made the second pass, and settle for the one special
roommate whom they’ve made a personal
connection with.

Finding themselves knee-deep in requests, posters usually resort to

picking the rst dozen or so of respondents, and wither the list down to
a few, and settle for one thereon. unless they’re hit by an unlucky stroke
of 25 completely untenable applicants. Write a quick, concise, and
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courteous message—but not overly intimate, we all know
Scandinavians are uncomfortable with invasion of personal space and
strangers in general.

Yup, this is good enough for me.

An alternative tip towards securing housing if you have a slightly

padded wallet/bank account is to actually rent an entire share-friendly
apartment (“delevenlig” in Danish), and then either (1) sublet the
rooms to, or (2) nd co-signers to the same contract with, other people
by posting ads on the aforementioned Facebook groups or housing
sites.

Typically you will never have an issue nding someone to occupy the
rooms. The only drawback is that for going for the rst option (which is
more convenient), is that you have to pay a hefty deposit and prepaid
rent upfront, which you can only recover after nding subtenants to
your apartment.

. . .

Be smart
I can understand the desperation that overwhelms you when you
realise that you are facing the prospect of being homeless in Aarhus.
However, that does not mean throwing caution to the wind. Watch out
for the following signs that you are being scammed:

Devil is in the details

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• Overly generic descriptions. The listing information mentions
things like “centrally located”, “quiet neighbourhood”, “close to
grocery stores” (Which part of Aarhus? Where? What
neighbourhood? Most landlords are keen to show o where the
listing is, if in a decent neighbourhood), “rent is 500 euros” a
month (Denmark rejected adopting the currency back in 2000, so
there’s no reason why we would quote prices in euros), and the
likes.

• Factual discrepancies. “Gas and electricity included in the

rent”—welp, most homes in Aarhus are not fed by gas lines.

Validity of address and viewing opportunities

• Invalid address or address that is not on o cial records. Verify
the address/unit with OIS.dk, Boligejer.dk, or Krak.dk (the former
two of which are likely to contain more up-to-date information).
Invalid addresses, even if they physically exist, suggests that the
place has not been legally inspected and approved for occupancy,
therefore will never allow CPR registration. It pays to do your
homework. However, note that this does not stop potentially shady
landlords from o ering the same legitimate unit to multiple
people.

• No chance to view, or di culties in arranging for viewing, the

place in person. A segue from the previous point. Con artists will
come up with a myriad of excuses, ranging from vacationing to
living abroad, to discourage you from viewing the apartment. You
have to do it—either yourself, or have an acquaintance to it on
your behalf.

• No possibility of CPR registration (see next section)

Money transfer & payments

• Reluctance to accept bank transfers. Landlords that insist on
wired transfers are shady as hell. Money is not traceable, and
when it leaves your hand, it leaves you for good.

• Any, I mean ANY, mention of money transfer before seeing the

apartment. This is it. If the landlord asks you to transfer any kind
of money (typically via Western Union or MoneyGram), then run.
RUN, and never ever look back. Any transactions should be
performed through bank transfer (so that the money can be
traced, although there’s no guarantee on recovery).

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This is the only sensible thing to do when your “landlord” instructs you to send money before
ANYTHING. They’re the equivalent of demogorgons.

Never transfer money until you have received and

signed the contract. If you do, insist on a bank
transfer.

• A sublease is priced higher than the original lease. Most, or

virtually all, housing organisations (that includes Student Housing
Aarhus) forbids subletting at a rent higher than what the tenant is
paying. In other words, it is illegal to pro t for subletting in
almost all dormitories, and in some private residential units
(depending on who owns them). If you are being o ered a sublet
of a dorm room, double check the price on the dormitory’s
webpage—Student Housing Aarhus has a list of all the dormitories
it manages. The only exception is when the housing unit is not
administered by a housing organisation and does not have a clause
in the contract forbiding pro teering through subletting.

. . .

CPR registration
T his issue is so persistent that it warrants its own section and a very
declarative, stern warning on my behalf.

Do not settle for a place without possibility for CPR

registration. A legal and legitimate rental unit will
ALWAYS allow for CPR registration.

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A small collection of many postings on a Facebook group for housing opportunities in Aarhus, showing that some listings do not allow CPR registration.

I have come across so many examples when scouring through Facebook

groups and postings about rental contracts without the possibility to
“register your CPR”. Before I double down on this nasty piece of cake, a
brief introduction to what CPR is: it is a civil registration number that is
given to every single person who has the legal right to reside in
Denmark. You will get one even if you’re just an exchange student.

A simple motto to live by: no CPR registration, no go.

CPR registration is crucial because it requires you to provide a valid

address. By registering your CPR with Aarhus municipality, you will be
able to access all services available to legal residents of Denmark, such
as (and not restricted to):

• access to free healthcare

• getting any kind of insurance

• opening a bank account

• receiving salary (through NemKonto; “easy account”)

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• entering a contract with your utility (heating, water, electricity),
mobile phone, or Internet service provider

Without a CPR registration, none of the above is possible. CPR is a

legal requirement for all residents of Denmark (de ned as anyone
residing in the country for longer than 3 months, or are paying taxes to
the co ers).

You are severely handicapped and uninsured if you

have no CPR registration. Never settle for “no CPR
registration” as an answer from a housing ad!

A proper residential unit must allow you to register your CPR with it. If
you cannot register your CPR at the address, it is very likely because:

• it is not a legal residence unit, e.g. have not been approved by

the municipality for residential occupancy due to safety reasons;
the address is at maximum capacity and cannot legally
accommodate another tenant; the address simply does not exist;
or that it is an o ce/commercial space that has been illegally
repurposed for residential occupancy

• your landlord is not allowed to rent his/her unit out. This is

often the case when the he/she is not allowed to sublet under the
conditions of the contract. I have seen one too many cases where
students in from the International House attempting to sublet
their room, for example (and this is explicitly prohibited)

• you’re getting a phony contract, likely to be not legally binding

and therefore does not o er the chances of CPR registration

If you are found to be residing at an address that you are not registered
to, you risk immediate eviction by the municipality or relevant
authorities, and will have no place to return to. I hope that this does not
happen to anyone—and the best prevention is not to take up a shady
unit at the rst place.

. . .

Let’s talk money: Deposits & prepaid rent

M ost rental contracts o ered in Aarhus include a 1- to 3-month
deposit and a 1- to 3-month prepaid rent, in any combination
thereof, or in values in between whatsoever.

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The deposit is to protect the homeowner/landlord against damages
incurred by the tenant(s) (although they can pursue further payments
for extensive damages, such as smashing a gaping hole on the oor, or a
collapsed ceiling—all of which I have heard of), and as some form of
prepayment for refurbishment at the end of your stay. Landlords are
prohibited to restore the apartment to “as new” conditions
according to the new housing regulations signed into law in July 2015,
but can still restore damages from normal wear and tear. William
Birgisson has written a rather comprehensive and easy-to-understand
guide towards the changes in the housing law.

The summarised gist:

1. Landlords cannot make you pay to refurbish your unit to be

“as new”. They can only x damages due to normal wear and tear.

2. Landlords cannot stipulate a xed increment in rent per

annum, also known as a staircase rent (older contracts usually
stipulate rent increments of 100–300dkk per year). This increment
is only to be within the range of the in ation of the consumer price
index.

3. Landlords have the right to terminate your contract, but have

to (1) provide at least a year’s notice; (2) intend to move into the
unit him/herself; and (3) must have resided in the
aforementioned unit previously

The best case scenario is typically paying 1 month deposit with no or 1-

month prepaid rent. The worst case scenario, which is annoyingly
common (and exorbitantly expensive) but perfectly legal, is a 3-month
deposit and 3 months prepaid rent. Considering that you also have to
pay the rst month’s rent upfront, that means up coughing up to 7
times the rental price upfront.

Understanding your rental contract and

obligations
If you have secured a rental contract, and are con dent that you are
dealing with an apartment/room that actually exists, make sure
that you understand it before signing it. You are most likely provided
with the standard Danish housing contract—remember that if you also
receive one in English alongside, it is a “good to have” but a non-legally
binding version, in the event of incorrect/inaccurate translations.

The dreaded §11

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Susan didn’t read §11 properly. Susan is horri ed when she nds out about the extra clauses. Don’t
be Susan.

Watch our for §11, the catch-all section where the

landlord has the freedom to ammend any of the
declared statements in previous sections.

C heck out §11. That is the catch-all section that houses all the nasty
little bits of details. All statements in this section can override any
other statements previously declared in the statement. For example, if
the landlord enforces that all tenants in the building to be jointly
responsible for cleaning the common corridors/stairwells, it will
probably end up in there. This section will either:

• reduce your rights, or

• increase your responsibility,

to statements found in §1 through §10.

Moving in
It is compulsory for the landlord to check the apartment with the
tenant. Photograph and enumerate all damages, no matter how
small or insigni cant you think they are, and submit them to your
landlord within 14 days of moving in.

Terminating your contract

Your prepaid rent might not coincide with the period of advanced
notice you need to give your landlord before moving out—e.g. you may

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have only paid 1 month of prepaid rent, but is contractually required to
give 3 months notice prior to moving out.

Make sure you inform your landlord in ways that can be timestamped
and documented. That can be done by sending an email, or a dated
letter to your landlord—use these to complement any verbal
communications between both parties.

Moving out
Most contracts require the tenant to evict the premises before the
actual termination of the contract (e.g. 10 business days before),
because the landlord needs the extra time to carry out repairs on, or to
refurbish, the apartment. Therefore, it is often necessary to have
another place to stay during this period, and most people have two
weeks to a month of paying double rent. Make sure that you have
accounted for this additional expense in your nances.

Before these works are carried out, make an appointment wiht your
landlord and have him/her come by for a visit. Agree with him/her on
all the repairs that has to be carried out. The repair/refurbishment
costs are usually deducted from your deposit, and the remaining will be
transferred back to you at some point after the contract expires.

. . .

The Bottom Line

At Bellevue beach, in the height of Danish summer.

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