Lease agreement: how to fill in standard form A10 section by section
23 September 2026 · 12 min read · Property management
Standard form A, 10th edition (typeformular A10), is the authorised standard lease for private residential tenancies. You fill in §§ 1-10 with facts about the parties, the home and the payments, write everything that departs from the Rent Act (lejeloven) in § 11 and sign in § 12. The form is not required for the lease to be valid, but if you use a different template, terms that put the tenant in a worse position than the law are invalid.
Do you have to use standard form A10?
Not for the lease to be valid. A lease can also be made orally or tacitly, for example by giving the tenant the keys and collecting rent, according to the explanatory notes to the bill for the Rent Act (in Danish). Both you and the tenant can, however, demand that the agreement is put in writing (§ 11(1) of the Rent Act (in Danish)), and according to the notes there is no deadline for this.
The pitfall is the template. The law calls a written lease with terms that are suitable for several tenants and look standardised a form (blanket), and when renting out for residential use, only authorised forms may be used (§ 14(1) and (2)). According to the explanatory notes, it can be enough that the lease is suitable for use for several tenancies. A lease template you find online is made for exactly that.
If you use a form that is not authorised, terms that give the tenant greater obligations or fewer rights than the law are invalid (§ 14(3)). The rest of the agreement stands, and where a term falls away, the rule in the law applies. The form the ministry has authorised for private residential tenancies is standard form A, 10th edition, in Danish or English. A copy that is identical in content and layout also counts, and you may put your own logo in the top left corner (Executive Order no. 77 of 29 January 2025 (in Danish), § 5). You can download both versions on the page with a free lease agreement.
How to fill in the lease, section by section
The form has 12 sections and a guide, which is part of the authorised lease. Terms printed in bold italics are already departures from the law, so you do not need to repeat them in § 11.
| Section | What goes in | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| § 1 The parties and the premises | Type of home, address, landlord and tenant with contact details, floor area, number of rooms, the right to use, for example, a basement storeroom, and what the home may be used for. | Tick whether it is an owner-occupied apartment or a co-op apartment. It matters if you later want to terminate the tenancy to live there yourself (§ 170, no. 3, and § 172, no. 4). |
| § 2 Start and end | The date the tenancy starts. | The tenancy runs until notice is given. An end date must be agreed in § 11, and the reason should be stated there. |
| § 3 Payment of rent | Annual and monthly rent, due date, on-account amounts, payment account and the date of the taxes and charges included in the rent. | Amounts on top of the rent require a legal basis. Otherwise they must be part of the rent. |
| § 4 Deposit and prepaid rent | Amounts, payment deadlines and the date of the first ordinary rent payment. | The cap is 3 months’ rent for each (see the next section). |
| § 5 and § 6 Utilities, aerial and internet | Who supplies heating, water, electricity and cooling, and how it is divided and paid. | If you supply heating and hot water to an apartment, the cost cannot be included in the rent (§ 65). |
| § 7 Condition on moving in and out | Whether you rent out more than one residential apartment, and whether inspections are held. | If you do, and you do not hold a move-in inspection with a report, you lose, as a rule, the claim for refurbishment (§ 90(3)). |
| § 8 Maintenance | Whether you or the tenant has the interior maintenance: whitewashing, painting, wallpapering and floors. | If you do not tick the tenant, the duty is yours. |
| § 9 Inventory | The white goods that come with the home. | What you tick belongs to you. Write other items on the “Other” lines. |
| § 10 Pets, house rules and other information | Whether pets are allowed, whether there are house rules, and practical information about the property. | If there are house rules, attach them. Departures from the law may not be written here. |
| § 11 Special terms | All agreed departures from the law and from §§ 1-10, for example a fixed term, free rent (fri leje) and adjustment by the net price index. | Terms that already follow from the law or the house rules may not be written here. |
| § 12 Signature | Date and signature of the landlord and the tenant. | An addendum should be signed separately. |
How high the rent may be depends on the home and where it is. If the property was first used after 31 December 1991, the rent can be agreed freely (§ 54(1), no. 1), and you tick this in § 11. Read about rent regulation before you write in the amount.
Deposit and prepaid rent in § 4
The deposit is security for the tenant’s obligations on moving out and can be at most 3 months’ rent (§ 59(1) of the Rent Act (in Danish)). Prepaid rent is rent for the last part of the tenancy. It can also be at most 3 months’ rent, and it may not exceed the rent for the period from when the tenant gives notice until the tenancy ends (§ 59(3)). In addition, you can require the rent to be paid monthly in advance, but never for more than 3 months at a time (§ 58(1) and (3)). These rules cannot be departed from to the tenant’s disadvantage (§ 64).
Write the amounts both in kroner and as a number of months’ rent, and write the date they must be paid by. § 4 also has a line for the total payment before moving in. If the rent later rises, you can demand the deposit and prepaid rent adjusted accordingly, and if it falls, you must pay back the difference (§ 60). If the tenancy is a sublease, the tenant can choose to provide a bank guarantee or deposit the amount in escrow instead of paying a deposit (§ 59(2)). What you may deduct from the deposit when the tenant moves out is explained in the guide to deposits and prepaid rent.
What may § 11 on special terms contain?
§ 11 is the place for everything that gives the tenant fewer rights or more obligations than the law, and according to the form, terms written here are sufficiently highlighted. The form and the guide to standard form A (in Danish) set three limits themselves. Departures may not be written directly into the pre-printed text by crossing out, unless the text itself allows it. Terms that already follow from the law or the house rules may not be repeated. And if there is not enough room, you continue in an addendum, which should be signed separately.
If you rent out several homes in the same property, be careful with a standard addendum. An addendum with uniform terms that tenants must see as standardised must itself be authorised, and no addendum to A10 has been authorised.
| You can agree | You cannot agree |
|---|---|
| That the tenancy is for a fixed term, when this is justified by your circumstances (§ 173) | A deposit or prepaid rent above the cap (§ 59 and § 64) |
| That the tenant cannot give notice for a period, or a different notice period for the tenant (§ 169(1)) | More grounds for terminating the tenancy than the law gives (§ 181) |
| Free rent, if the property is covered by § 54 | That the rent for an apartment includes the heating and hot water you supply (§ 65 and § 83) |
| Adjusting the rent by the net price index once a year | That the tenant must hand back the home in better condition than when they moved in (§ 187(1)) |
| That the tenant takes over the interior maintenance, which you tick in § 8 (§ 115(1)) | That the tenant takes over the exterior maintenance, for example of white goods, in properties with rent regulation (§ 115(2)) |
If you want to adjust the rent by the net price index, the term must be in § 11, and it must state when the rent is adjusted for the first time. If you have agreed free rent, the rent cannot otherwise be adjusted during the tenancy, according to the guide, apart from increases in taxes and charges.
Common mistakes in the lease
| Mistake | What happens |
|---|---|
| Your own template or an older version of the form for a new lease | Terms that put the tenant in a worse position than the law are invalid (§ 14(3)). |
| Departures written in § 10 or by crossing out | This goes against the form, and you risk the term not applying. |
| Unclear terms such as “the tenant is responsible for maintenance” | If a departure has not been agreed explicitly, the rules of the law apply (§ 11(2)). |
| An end date without an agreement and a reason in § 11 | The tenancy may end up running with no end date. Read about the fixed-term lease. |
| Too high a deposit or prepaid rent | The cap cannot be departed from (§ 64), and the Rent Tribunal (huslejenævnet) decides disagreements about the deposit (§ 63). In properties with cost-based rent (omkostningsbestemt leje), it can also be punished (§ 62). |
| No move-in report when you rent out more than one home | As a rule, you lose the claim for refurbishment on moving out (§ 90(3)). Read about the move-in inspection. |
Can the lease be signed digitally?
Yes. The Rent Act does not require a particular form of signature. It only requires the agreement to be in writing if one of you asks for it, or if it is a sublease (§ 11(1) and § 157(3)), and according to the explanatory notes, the requirement for writing can be met digitally when the document can be read and stored on a durable medium. The ministry’s PDF has fields you can fill in on a computer, and § 12 has space for the date and signature of you both.
Use a solution where you both get the signed lease as a file, and where it can be documented who signed. If you make the lease in a system, it must be identical to the form in content and layout to count as authorised (§ 5 of the executive order).
The rest of the tenancy can also be handled digitally, but three notices must be sent on paper: your demand for payment, your notice of termination and the tenant’s objection to the notice (§ 13(2) of the Rent Act (in Danish)). Both you and the tenant can, with 1 month’s notice, demand that notices are not sent digitally, and if one of you is exempt from Digital Post, they cannot be sent digitally at all (§ 13(1)). The move-in report may be handed over digitally (§ 90(2)).
A lease in English
Since 1 February 2025, there has also been an authorised English version, standard form A, 10th edition (ENG), with the guide in English. The rules are in Executive Order no. 77 of 29 January 2025 (in Danish):
- Whichever of you draws up the lease chooses whether the Danish or the English version is used (§ 1(2)).
- If you use the English version, all fields must be filled in in English (§ 3(2)).
- The English version can only be used for tenancies entered into after 1 February 2025 (§ 6(3)).
It is practical when the tenant does not read Danish, for example an international student or an employee on a stay in Copenhagen. The tenancy still follows the same rental law.
Once the lease is signed
Hold the move-in inspection on the day the tenant gets the keys, and describe the condition of the home room by room. The tenant has 2 weeks from the start of the tenancy to report defects, even if you have held an inspection (§ 91). If you rent out only one home, you have no duty to hold an inspection, but the report is your documentation if you later disagree about the deposit. You can find templates for move-in and move-out reports under rental tools.
If you would rather not fill in the lease yourself, it is part of our long-term rental service. We screen the tenant, draw up the lease under the Rent Act, handle the deposit and hold move-in and move-out inspections for 8.5% of the monthly rent including VAT.
The article is based on the Rent Act as it applies in September 2026. It is general information and not legal advice.
Sources
- Act on Rent, Act no. 341 of 22 March 2022 as amended (retsinformation.dk, in Danish)
- Bill on the Act on Rent (L 47), explanatory notes to §§ 11, 13 and 14 (introduced 13 October 2021, in Danish)
- Executive Order no. 77 of 29 January 2025 on authorised standard forms for leases (Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing, in Danish)
- Lease for residential use, standard form A, 10th edition, with guide (sm.dk, in Danish)
- Residential lease, standard form A, 10th edition (ENG), with guide (sm.dk)
Frequently asked questions
The key questions, answered briefly.
Have another question?Call +45 50 52 15 37 or book a meeting.
Is it a legal requirement to use standard form A10?
No, a lease is valid even if it is oral. But if you use a pre-printed lease or a template for a home, it must be authorised under § 14 of the Rent Act. If it is not, terms that put the tenant in a worse position than the law are invalid. Standard form A, 10th edition, is the form the ministry has authorised for private residential tenancies.
What should § 11 of a lease contain?
All agreed departures from the Rent Act and from §§ 1-10 of the lease, for example that the tenancy is for a fixed term with an end date and a reason, that the rent is set freely (fri leje), or that it is adjusted by the net price index. Terms that already follow from the law or the house rules may not be written there. If there is not enough room, you continue in an addendum, which should be signed separately.
Can you require both a deposit and prepaid rent?
Yes. When you rent out an apartment or a room, you can require a deposit of at most 3 months’ rent and prepaid rent of at most 3 months, but no more than the rent for the tenant’s notice period. This follows from § 59 of the Rent Act. You can also require the first month’s rent to be paid in advance. The amounts and deadlines are written in § 4 of the lease.
Can you sign a lease digitally?
Yes. According to the explanatory notes to the Rent Act, the requirement for writing can be met digitally when the document can be read and stored on a durable medium. Choose a solution where you both get the signed file, and where it can be documented who signed. Demands for payment and the landlord’s notice of termination must, however, later be sent on paper.
Who decides whether the lease should be in English?
Whichever party draws up the lease chooses between the Danish and the English version of standard form A, 10th edition. This is set out in Executive Order no. 77 of 29 January 2025. If the English version is chosen, all fields must be filled in in English, and it can only be used for tenancies entered into after 1 February 2025.
What happens if you use an old lease?
If you use an older version or a home-made template for a new lease, it is not an authorised form. Then the terms that give the tenant more obligations or fewer rights than the Rent Act are invalid, while the rest of the agreement stands. So use standard form A, 10th edition, and write your special terms in § 11.
May you cross things out in a standard lease?
No, not in standard form A. Agreed departures may not be written directly into the pre-printed text by crossing out or similar, unless the text itself allows it. They must be in § 11. Terms printed in bold italics are already departures from the law, so you do not need to repeat them.
