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Danish Rental Terms

When you searching for rentals in Denmark, you will come across many new words, phrases and terms that will be unfamiliar to you - because they are in DANISH. (duh!)

Never fear; I have compiled a list to help you navigate and read the various descriptions. You want to make sure you know what you are renting.

If you come across other terms that you are not familiar with, just drop me an email and I will try to explain them.

Happy Hunting!

Charlie

Rental Types

Boligtype ... Type of housing

Hus ... House (detached)

Lejlighed ... Apartment

Ejerlejlighed ... owned apartment (same as Apartment when to comes to renting - it is more to differeniate when buying)

Raekkehus ... Terraced house

Sommerhus ... Summer house or vacation home

Fritidshus ... Same as a sommerhus (summer house)

Andelsbolig ... Condo (can be a shared house or apartment)

Villa ... House - same as a hus

Villalejlighed ... This is an apartment inside a house. Usually a house with 2 to 4 apartments.

The terms below shouldn't apply to you as a renter, but it is useful to know if you look at a property with these terms.

Erhverv ... These are business properties.

Landbrug ... This refers to property to be used for farming or agricultural needs.

Landejendom ... This is a farm or house in the country, which usually comes with lots of acreage.

Helarsgrund ... This refers to land. It means a property can be built here which can be used all year round in reference to summer homes or sommerhus.

Båd ... This is the word for boat and you might come across one or two of these. Don't confuse this with a Bad, which is a bathroom or bath.

Parts of a Home

Here are some of the common words used in the descriptions of rentals:

Vaerelse ... Room

Badvaerelse (bad) ... Bathroom

Køkken ... Kitchen

Sovevaerelse ... Bedroom

Stue ... Living room

Altan ... Balcony

Garage ... Garage

Entre ... Entrance

Trapper ... Stairs

Vaskerum/Bryggers ... Washroom/utility room/laundry room

Kontor ... Office

Gaderobe ... Closet

Skue ... Open space/landing

Kaelder ... Cellar

Kvist ... Attic

Udestue ... Enclosed patio/conservatory

More Important Rental Terms

Alle boligtyper har interesse - all types of homes are of interest

Husleje ... Rent

Ubegraenset ... Unlimited (refers to length of rental)

Ledig fra ... Available from

Lejlighed til leje ... Available to rent

Mdl leje ... Monthly rent

Depositum ... Deposit (usually 3 x the monthly rent)

Husdyr ... Pets (usually you will find a Ja/Nej next to it meaning yes or no to pets) or Tilladt which means pets are allowed

Møbleret ... Furnished: Nej means no, Ja means yes, Delvist means partly.

Varme ... Heat/heating (as in utilities)

Vand ... Water (as in utilities)

En plan ... One-story building

To plan ... Two-story building

Plantegning ... Floor plan

Bofaellesskab ... Shared rental

Leje or Udlejes ... Rent

Fremlejes ... Sublet

Køb ... Buy

Salg ... Sale

Byggeaar – Year Built

Boligareal ... Size of the place given in kvm

Nyistandsat bolig ... Refurbished/updated

Apartment Codes

When you are viewing apartment rentals, you will come across some unfamiliar abbreviations. Once you understand what they mean, you will get so much more out of your searches.

The way floors are named is different from the US or UK. The ground floor (or first floor if you're from the US) is known as the stue etage.

Stue is abbreviated as "st" and means the apartment is located on the ground or first floor.

The next floor up is known in the US as the 2nd floor, but in Denmark it is the 1st floor or the "foerst sal" and is abbreviated as "1 sal". This continues as high as the apartment goes "2 sal" means the apartment is located on the 3rd floor, and so forth.

TIP If you don't want to be climbing lots of stairs, remember that most apartments in Denmark do NOT have elevators. The newer ones do, but many of the older apartments do not have elevators, so you will be getting a lot of exercise. Even if the building does have an elevator, you may find that it is only big enough for 2 -3 people, so you'd still have to move furniture up the stairs!

If you see “tv” next to the floor number, it means the apartment is located "til venstre" (on the left) of the landing, and if it is “th”, it means it is "til hoejre" (to the right) of the landing.

So if you see an address that has st.,th, the apartment is located in the stue on the right side.

If you see 2V or 3V in a description, it indicates the number of rooms: 2V is 2vaerelse or 2 rooms. 3V is 3 rooms.

Copenhagen City Codes

When you are looking for a place in Copenhagen you will see the address listed as:

København N – this is the Nørrebro area of the city or the northern section

København V – this is Vesterbro area or the area west of the city

København S – this is the southern part of Copenhagen

København NV – this is the Northwest part of the city

København Ø – this is the east part or Østerbro area

København K – this is the center of the city – downtown

The other Copenhagen listings will have a municipality/kommune listed, such as Farum, Taastrup, Hvidovre, Lyngby, etc.

I hope these terms will get you started in finding a nice place to live.

Now check out these sites for available places to rent.

Happy home hunting. Check out our list of Danish Rental Websites

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