Residence requirement: the fine may rise to DKK 100,000 in 2027. What it means for your home

If you move out of your home in Copenhagen, the safest course is to let it to a tenant who lives there. A bill, L 85, would raise the fine for repeated breaches of the residence requirement (bopælspligt) from around DKK 20,000 to up to DKK 100,000, and it is the owner who is punished. The risk lies in a year-round home that stands empty without being reported, is used as a summer home or other temporary home, or is used as an extra home by the same household. Lawful letting to a tenant is not a risk. The bill was introduced on 5 November 2026, has not been passed and is proposed to enter into force on 1 January 2027.

What does the bill change about the residence requirement?

It raises the fine for repeated breaches and lets municipalities introduce an occupancy cap for all rental homes. The bill has two parts, and both implement a political agreement of 26 February 2026 between the then government (the Social Democrats, Venstre and the Moderates), the Socialist People's Party and the Conservatives (L 85 as introduced).

1. The fine. Today the fine is in the order of DKK 10,000 the first time and DKK 20,000 for a repeat. The bill points to fines of up to DKK 100,000 for repeated breaches. The first and second fines do not change.
2. The occupancy cap. The municipal council can decide that the rules apply to all rental homes in the municipality. Today they apply only to landlords who have chosen them themselves.

The bill first appeared as a draft in consultation from 18 September to 19 October 2026 (Høringsportalen, the Danish consultation portal). After the consultation the text was clarified so that it is clear that the municipality's choice applies to all rental homes in the municipality. The Prime Minister's Office legislative programme of 6 October 2026 listed the bill among the bills planned for November (Statsministeriet).

How high will the fine be, and who does it hit?

Up to DKK 100,000 for repeated breaches, and it hits the owner. The police and the courts set the fine, not the municipality. The municipality can report the owner to the police if a home is used in breach of the rules. The explanatory notes list what may argue for a higher fine: the number of breaches, whether there was a financial motive, how serious the breach is and how long it lasted.

Breach	Today	After the bill, if passed
First time	About DKK 10,000	Unchanged, about DKK 10,000
Second time	About DKK 20,000	Unchanged, about DKK 20,000
Further repeats	Not stated in the notes	Up to DKK 100,000

These figures are levels from the preparatory works, not fixed rates in the text of the law. The legislative change itself is only that the word «som» becomes «der» in § 12(1) of the Housing Act (lov om boligforhold, Danish text), but the notes explain that the intention is to allow higher fines for repeats. The fine applies to the conduct named in § 12: demolishing or converting a home, using more than one home for the same household, letting a home as single rooms, taking a flat into use as summer accommodation or similar temporary use, and building work to turn a home into something other than a home.

Does the residence requirement apply to your home?

Probably, if it is in Copenhagen and has been used as a year-round home. The City of Copenhagen states that homes used as year-round homes within the last 5 years, either with registration in the civil register and/or with more than 180 overnight stays a year by a household, are covered (Københavns Kommune). Chapter 1 of the Housing Act applies in the regulated municipalities (§ 1).

The owner must ensure that a year-round home is put to use as a year-round home and, if it becomes vacant, that it continues to be used for housing. Under § 5 a home counts as vacant when it is not let or not used for housing. If it is vacant for more than 6 weeks, you must report it to the municipality. After that deadline the municipality can nominate a person seeking housing, to whom you must then let. That does not apply to owners who have moved out and have not managed to sell despite trying, or who have put the home up for sale (§ 5(6)).

The City of Copenhagen lists some valid reasons for a home to stand empty: major building work, a sale, a lease with move-in later than 6 weeks after moving out, a sale with later handover, general renovation and the user's temporary absence. The city can accept absence from the home for up to 4 years, for example for a posting abroad, illness, education or military service, if you apply. In its consultation note the ministry says that the law has no 180-day rule for what year-round occupancy is, even though the City of Copenhagen asked for one.

What applies if you move out and let the home?

Then you meet the residence requirement if you let lawfully to a tenant who lives in the home. A home that is let is not vacant under § 5(1), and if there is no vacancy there is nothing to report. Your tenant must live there. If the home is let but stands unoccupied, the municipality can terminate the lease unless the tenant is only temporarily away because of illness, a business trip, a holiday or the like (§ 6).

What to watch as a landlord:

• Use an ordinary lease and a tenant who moves in. See our guide to renting out or selling your apartment.
• Avoid using the home as an occasional home. The City of Copenhagen states that a home may not be used for occasional occupation or business, and that a household may not use more than one home in the Greater Copenhagen area and adjoining municipalities (§ 4).
• If you move outside the Greater Copenhagen area, a secondary home in Copenhagen can be approved as a commuter home if it is used for more than 180 overnight stays a year. The application goes to the municipality.
• If you let for a period, make sure the tenant lives there throughout. If the home is empty between two tenants for more than 6 weeks, you must report it as empty.

If you are posted abroad or temporarily away, you can read more in our guide to renting out your home while abroad and in the guide to the residence requirement in Copenhagen.

What applies if the home stands empty or is let short term?

That is where the risk is. An empty year-round home must be reported as empty after 6 weeks. If you do not, you can be fined under § 12(2), and the municipality can nominate a tenant. If the home is used as a summer home or for other temporary use without the municipality's consent, that is a breach of § 7 and § 12(1), no. 4. That is the provision the bill makes more expensive for repeats, and the notes specifically mention year-round homes that stand empty or are used for summer accommodation.

Short-term letting is allowed within the day limits, however. The City of Copenhagen states that you may let your own full year-round home for holiday and leisure purposes for 30 days a year, and for 70 days if it goes through an intermediary such as Airbnb or Booking.com. That follows from the exemption in § 7(4). Control lies with the Danish Agency for Planning and Rural Development (Plan- og Landdistriktsstyrelsen). If you exceed the days, or it is not your own home, you fall outside the exemption. Read more in our guide to the Airbnb rules in Copenhagen.

If you cannot sell the home, you are in a special situation. In its consultation response, Ældre Sagen (the Danish Society for the Elderly) asked that older people should not be hit if the home stands empty because of illness, a move to a care home or a difficult sale. The ministry replied that the owner must report the vacancy and that the municipality can then nominate a tenant. The consultation note does not show that the rules were changed on that point.

What does the occupancy cap mean for you as a landlord?

If the municipality activates the rules, a home may be occupied by at most two people per habitable room, and your consent is no longer needed. Today the rules apply only to landlords who have themselves told the municipality that they should apply (§ 13(2)), and the bill repeals that provision. If a municipality chooses to, the rules apply to all rental homes in the municipality.

• The rules apply to new leases and to excesses that occur after the municipality's decision. Existing tenancies cannot be terminated solely because the municipality has activated the rules.
• Children of the tenant or of the tenant's spouse or partner do not count as an excess. The same applies if the tenant gets a spouse or partner.
• The municipality can allow an excess, among other things for relatives who need care, other compelling reasons or if there are still at least 20 m² per person.
• If you as landlord become aware that too many people live there, you must report it to the municipality. If you do not, or you let in breach of the rules, you can be fined (§ 14 and § 18).

The ministry's count shows that about 3,800 social and private rental homes have more than two people per habitable room registered in the civil register, and that about 1,700 have more than two adults per habitable room. Of those, about 1,500 are privately owned, and about 700 of them are in the Greater Copenhagen area, where the ministry expects the rules mainly to be used. We have not found a decision that the City of Copenhagen will activate the rules. The city submitted a consultation response to the draft, but that is not a decision.

How to be covered before 2027

• Write down what you want to do with the home before you move: let it, sell it or live there part of the time.
• If you let, use a lease with a tenant who moves in and registers. See buying an apartment to rent out for the other requirements for a rental home.
• If you report the home as empty, do so no later than 6 weeks after moving out, to boligregulering@kk.dk, and apply for absence or commuter-home status if it fits you.
• Keep short-term letting within 30 or 70 days and only for your own home.
• Keep documentation of leases, sale listings and the municipality's replies.
• Follow L 85. The text may still be changed during committee proceedings.

When you let us rent out the home

We find a tenant who is to live in the home, prepare the lease, collect the rent and handle contact with the tenant, so that the home is let and occupied under the Danish Tenancy Act. You pay 8.5% excl. VAT of the monthly rent. We do not give legal advice on your specific situation, but we know the municipality's requirements. Read more about long-term rental with BY Administration.

This article is based on the Housing Act and bill L 85 as they stood on 13 November 2026. It is general information and not legal advice.

Sources

• Lov om boligforhold, Act no. 342/2022 (Retsinformation)
• Bill amending the Housing Act (L 85, 2026-27), introduced 5 November 2026 (Retsinformation)
• L 85, proceedings (Folketingstidende)
• Consultation on the draft amendment of the Housing Act (occupancy cap and residence requirement), 18 September 2026 (Høringsportalen)
• Legislative programme for the parliamentary year 2026-27 (Statsministeriet)
• Residence requirement rules in Copenhagen (Københavns Kommune)
• Municipalities to decide how many may live in a rental home, 21 September 2026 (Danske Udlejere)
• Consultation response on the occupancy cap and residence requirement, October 2026 (Ældre Sagen)