Flat share or cohousing in Denmark: Pros and cons
Low rent, shared dinners and someone to talk to when you get home all sound good. But a kollektiv (a shared house or flat with several residents) can also mean a sink full of dishes, long house meetings and a contract that makes you liable for other people’s rent. Before you say yes to a room in a kollektiv or put your name down for a bofællesskab (cohousing community), you should know what you get, what you give up and whether it fits your everyday life. Here you will find the pros and cons of each type of housing, a worked example using Bolighub’s rent figures and a test you can take before you decide.
Kollektiv, flat share or bofællesskab: What is the difference?
The words are used quite loosely in Danish rental listings. One landlord calls a three-room flat with two flatmates a kollektiv, while another uses the word bofællesskab for a development with 20 self-contained homes and a shared common house. So always ask what is actually meant. Roughly speaking, there are five types:
| Type of housing | What you have to yourself | What you share | Typical for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delelejlighed (flat share) (2-3 people) | Your own room | Kitchen, bathroom, living room | Friends and students |
| Kollektiv (often 4 or more) | Your own room | Kitchen, bathroom, living room and often food and a shared kitty | People who want a social community |
| Room with a main tenant (hovedlejer) or owner | Your own room | Kitchen and bathroom with the person who lives there | Newcomers, students, short stays |
| Bofællesskab with separate homes (cohousing) | A whole home with its own kitchen and bathroom | Common house, garden, workshop, communal dining | Families and couples |
| Seniorbofællesskab (senior cohousing) | A whole home | Common house and activities | People over 50 or 55 |
The first three types are about sharing one home. The last two are about each living in your own home and sharing a community. That is the most important dividing line when you weigh up the pros and cons, because privacy, finances and the legal position are very different for the two groups.
Advantages of living in a kollektiv or bofællesskab
1. Lower rent per person, especially in larger homes
This is the most obvious advantage. Rent per square metre typically falls as the size of the home increases, and when you share the kitchen, bathroom and living room, each of you only pays for part of them. The worked example further down shows how big the difference can be.
2. A social network right outside your door
If you are moving to a new city, a kollektiv can give you a network from day one. Many people describe this as the biggest benefit: there is someone to eat with, someone who notices if you are ill and someone to go out with. In a bofællesskab with separate homes, it is often the communal dinners and work days that create the sense of community.
3. You share costs and things
Internet, streaming, a vacuum cleaner, tools, a sewing machine and basic groceries don’t need to be bought five times. If you take turns cooking, the food budget is often smaller and less food goes to waste.
4. More space for your money
As part of a kollektiv you can get access to a large living room, a garden or a house you could never afford on your own.
5. Help in everyday life
In cohousing communities with separate homes there is often an informal arrangement where neighbours pick up each other’s children, look after the cat or help with shopping. For older people, this can mean less loneliness and more security.
6. Easier to get started
Rooms in kollektiver and shared homes are often furnished, and you don’t have to buy a fridge, washing machine or sofa. That makes moving in cheaper, especially when you are leaving home for the first time.
Disadvantages of living in a kollektiv or bofællesskab
1. Less privacy
Your room is your only private space. If you want to watch a film in peace, have a partner to stay or simply shower without waiting, it has to fit in with the others’ plans.
2. Conflicts over cleaning, noise and guests
It is rarely the big things that go wrong. It is the washing-up, the partner who practically lives there and the shared kitty nobody keeps track of. The more of you there are, the more habits have to fit together.
3. Financial dependence on the others
If you are all named on the lease, the landlord can, as a starting point, demand the full rent from each of you. If one person stops paying, you may end up covering their share. If you are the main tenant (hovedlejer) with several subtenants, you are the one liable for the full rent towards the landlord. We go through how the three contract models work in our guide to finding a flatmate and setting flatmate rules.
4. Decisions take time
In kollektiver and cohousing communities, many decisions are made at shared meetings, sometimes requiring everyone to agree. That can be democratic and good, but it can also take three meetings to agree on a new sofa.
5. Insecure housing if you are a subtenant
If you sublet (fremleje) from a main tenant, your home depends on the main tenant’s tenancy. If the main tenant moves out, or the landlord terminates the lease, you may lose your home too.
6. Duties and expectations
Many kollektiver and cohousing communities have cooking rotas, cleaning schedules, communal work days and meetings. That is part of the package. If you work changing hours or need a lot of time alone, it can become a burden.
7. Cheaper isn’t always cheap
A room in a kollektiv is not automatically cheaper than a small flat. It depends on the city, the size, the furniture and what is included in the price. See the figures below.
Pros and cons at a glance
| Flat share and kollektiv | Room with a main tenant | Bofællesskab with separate homes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Often low per person | Varies a lot | Like an ordinary home plus shared costs |
| Privacy | Low | Low | High, you have your own home |
| Social life | High | Depends on the host | High, but more optional |
| Financial risk | Joint and several liability if everyone is on the lease | Limited to your own rent | As in an ordinary home |
| Housing security | Depends on the contract model | Depends on the main tenant and the sublease agreement | Typically as in an ordinary home |
| Say over who your neighbours are | Often a lot when choosing new residents | Little | Varies, some have waiting lists and interviews |
| Commitments | Cleaning, shared kitty, house meetings | House rules | Communal dining, work days, meetings |
What does it cost? A worked example using Bolighub’s rent figures
The figures below are medians for listings on Bolighub, calculated on 29 October 2026. They are asking rents, not rents actually paid, and utilities may or may not be included. Rooms are often advertised furnished and with utilities or internet included, so they can’t be compared one-to-one with flats.
| Copenhagen | Aarhus | |
|---|---|---|
| Room (median) | DKK 10,377 for 16 m² (50 listings) | Too few listings for a reliable median |
| 1-room flat (median) | DKK 9,900 for 33 m² | DKK 6,800 for 37 m² |
| 4-room flat (median) | DKK 20,250 for 107 m² | DKK 13,500 for 99 m² |
| 4-room flat shared by 3 people | approx. DKK 6,750 per person | approx. DKK 4,500 per person |
Nationwide, there were 101 rooms for rent on Bolighub, with a median rent of DKK 6,500 and a median size of 20 m². You can find more figures on our page about the rental market.
What can you learn from the figures?
- Renting a larger flat together is where the savings are biggest. In the example, three people in a 4-room flat in Copenhagen each pay around DKK 3,000 less a month than for a 1-room flat on their own. In return, they share the living room, kitchen and bathroom.
- A single room in an existing kollektiv in Copenhagen is, at the median, no cheaper than a small 1-room flat. The price may, however, cover furniture, utilities and internet, so always work out the total monthly cost.
- Remember the extra costs: electricity, heating, water, internet, the shared kitty and indboforsikring (contents insurance). In a bofællesskab with separate homes, there is typically a contribution to the common house and shared costs on top of the rent.
Example: Sara is 23 and is going to study in Copenhagen. She can get a furnished 15 m² room in a kollektiv in Nørrebro for DKK 9,500 including utilities and internet. The alternative is an unfurnished 1-room flat for DKK 9,900, where utilities and internet come on top and she has to buy furniture. The kollektiv is the cheapest option in the first year, but she has to be able to live with sharing a bathroom with three others. If she could instead find two friends and rent a 4-room flat together, she would pay around DKK 6,750 plus utilities in the example.
Is it right for you? A quick self-test
Answer the questions honestly. The more times you answer yes, the more likely it is that shared living suits you.
- Can you live with others using the kitchen when you want to cook?
- Are you fine with a certain amount of noise and activity around you?
- Can you handle an awkward face-to-face conversation, for example about cleaning?
- Are you willing to spend time on house meetings and shared tasks?
- Do you have a stable income, so you can pay your share on time every month?
- Are you OK with the fact that your partner can’t just move in?
- Do you have somewhere to retreat to when you need peace and quiet, for example at work, at the library or with family?
Shared housing typically suits you poorly if you work rotating shifts and sleep during the day, need a lot of time alone, are expecting a baby or will soon be moving in with a partner. In those situations, a bofællesskab with separate homes can be a better compromise than a kollektiv.
The legal side in brief
The rules depend on who is named on the contract and what type of home it is. Here are the points that most often surprise people.
How many people can live there?
If one person is the main tenant and sublets rooms to the others, section 157 of lejeloven (the Danish Rent Act) says that the tenant has the right to sublet up to half of the flat’s habitable rooms. At the same time, the total number of people in the flat must not exceed the number of habitable rooms. The kitchen, bathroom and hallway do not count as habitable rooms. The sublease agreement must be in writing, and the landlord must have a copy before the subletting begins.
Example: Mikkel rents a 5-room flat and wants to set up a kollektiv with four friends. Under section 157, he only has the right to sublet two of the five rooms. If they want to be five, this should be agreed in writing with the landlord, for example by having more people named on the lease. Whether the landlord can and will agree depends, among other things, on the property and the municipality’s rules on how many people may live in a home. Clarify this before anyone moves in.
Who chooses new residents?
Many kollektiver hold interviews and choose for themselves who takes over a vacant room. That arrangement only applies between you. If everyone is named on the lease, the landlord must, as a starting point, approve a new tenant being added to the contract. If each resident has their own contract with the landlord, it is typically the landlord who decides.
Folkeregistret (the civil registry)
You must register your change of address no later than 5 days after moving in. If your name isn’t on the door, you write the main tenant’s or owner’s name in the field “Hos (c/o)“. The municipality may ask that person to confirm that you actually live there. See borger.dk on moving (in Danish).
Boligstøtte (housing benefit)
According to borger.dk, only one person can receive boligstøtte when several people live together. That person must be a tenant and be named on the contract, and the home must, as a starting point, have its own kitchen. The other adults in the household must sign a declaration of joint and several liability (solidarisk hæftelse), so they can also be required to pay money back if too much has been paid out. See borger.dk on applying for boligstøtte (in Danish).
Boligstøtteloven (the Housing Benefit Act) also has special rules for certain collective cohousing communities, for example for people aged 55 or over and communities set up under special rules. Other requirements may apply here, for example regarding the number of residents and individual leases. If you live in this type of community, ask Udbetaling Danmark (the public authority that pays out benefits) what applies to you.
Almene bofællesskaber (cohousing in non-profit housing)
Under almenboligloven (the Act on Non-profit Housing), almene familieboliger (non-profit family homes) can be set up as individual or collective cohousing communities when the municipal council decides so. They are let to home seekers who need that type of housing, under an agreement between the municipality and the housing organisation. If you are interested, ask your municipality or the local housing organisations whether such communities exist and how to be considered.
Insurance
Insurance companies treat shared housing differently. Some cover two or three people sharing a home on one policy. Others require a policy for each resident. Call your insurer and get the answer in writing before you move in.
How to find and assess a kollektiv or bofællesskab
Step 1: Decide which type you are looking for
Use the table at the top. Do you want to share one home, or do you want your own home with a community around it? That determines where you should look.
Step 2: Search in a targeted way
- A room in an existing kollektiv or shared home: See rooms for rent, and ask around in your network, at your place of study and in clubs and associations.
- A flat or house you want to rent together: Search among rental homes and look for homes marked as share-friendly. There aren’t many of them. Of all listings on Bolighub, 1,044 out of 8,540 were marked as share-friendly. For flats in Copenhagen it was 82 out of 1,228, and in Aarhus 86 out of 423 (calculated on 29 October 2026). If a home isn’t marked, ask the landlord before you apply.
- A bofællesskab with separate homes: Many have their own waiting lists and hold open houses. Some are almene (non-profit), others are andelsboliger (co-op housing) or owner-occupied homes. If it is a senior cohousing community, you can read about the differences in our guide to senior housing for rent.
Step 3: Ask the right questions when you visit
A kollektiv assesses you, but you should also assess them. Ask, for example:
- Who is named on the lease, and does the landlord know how many people live here?
- Will I get a written contract or sublease agreement?
- What do you pay in total each month, and what is included: utilities, internet, shared kitty?
- How often do you eat together, and is it optional?
- How do you make decisions, and how often do you hold house meetings?
- How do you feel about guests, partners and parties?
- How long have the others lived here, and why did the last person move out?
- What happens to the depositum (deposit) when someone moves out?
If many people have moved out in a short time, or nobody can give a clear answer about who is named on the contract, that is a warning sign.
Step 4: Get it in writing
Get your lease or sublease agreement in writing, and make an internal agreement about rent, utilities, cleaning and moving out. Never transfer money for a home you haven’t seen, or to a person you haven’t met.
Common mistakes
- You choose the type of housing on price alone. The cheapest option is expensive if you are unhappy and move out after three months.
- You don’t know who is named on the contract. Then you don’t know who is liable for the rent either, or how secure your home is.
- There are more of you than the Rent Act and the contract allow. This can cause problems with the landlord.
- You think everyone can get boligstøtte. As a starting point, only one person in the household can get it.
- You agree nothing about moving out. Disagreements about the deposit and replacement tenants are a classic source of conflict.
- You underestimate the shared commitments. Communal dinners three times a week are cosy, but they also take time.
- You assume your insurance covers you. It doesn’t always when there are several of you.
Advice for tenants and home seekers
- Try it out before you commit: If you can live in a kollektiv on a shorter agreement first, you will know better whether it suits you.
- Have a buffer: If you are liable for the full rent, have money for at least one month’s rent in case someone else doesn’t pay.
- Meet everyone, not just the person showing you round. They are the people you will share a kitchen with.
- Think in phases: A kollektiv can be perfect while you are studying. A bofællesskab with separate homes may be better when you start a family.
- Keep your paperwork in order: Contract, sublease agreement, payments and photos from when you moved in.
Advice for landlords renting to kollektiver
- Choose the contract model deliberately: One joint contract with joint and several liability, one main tenant with subtenants, or one contract per room. Each model has consequences for who is liable and how residents are replaced.
- Say it clearly in the listing: Mark the home as share-friendly, and state how many people may live there.
- Set up a procedure for replacements: For example, that the residents propose a replacement, that you have the right to approve the person, and that the change is made with a written addendum to the contract.
- Check the number of residents: Stay within the Rent Act’s rules and any municipal rules on how many people may live in the home.
- Have one contact person: Ask the residents to appoint one person to handle contact about payment and maintenance.
- Inspect the home thoroughly at move-in and move-out: With several residents there may be more wear and tear, so good documentation saves you all from arguments.
- Seek advice if in doubt, for example from a landlords’ association or a lawyer, before you terminate or cancel a lease.
When should you get help?
- Disagreement with the landlord about rent or deposit: Huslejenævnet (the rent tribunal) in your municipality can deal with many cases of this kind.
- Uncertainty about who can stay, or whether the landlord can terminate: Contact a tenants’ association, a landlords’ association or a lawyer.
- Boligstøtte: Contact Udbetaling Danmark via borger.dk.
- Conflicts between residents: Start with a calm house meeting. If it is about money you owe each other, a written internal agreement is your best documentation.
In short
- Work out whether you want to share one home (flat share or kollektiv) or have your own home within a community (bofællesskab with separate homes).
- The biggest advantages are lower rent per person in larger homes, a social network and shared costs. The biggest disadvantages are less privacy, the risk of conflict and financial dependence on the others.
- Work out the total cost. A room isn’t always cheaper than a small flat, but a larger flat shared between several people often is.
- Check the contract model, the number of residents, the civil registry, boligstøtte and insurance before you move in.
- Next step: Take the self-test, decide on a type of housing, and use the questions from step 3 when you go to see your first shared home.
FAQ
What is the difference between a kollektiv and a bofællesskab?
In a kollektiv, you typically share one home, with your own room each and a shared kitchen, bathroom and living room. In a bofællesskab, each household often has its own home with a kitchen and bathroom and shares a common house and activities. The words are used loosely, though, so always ask what is actually meant.
Is it cheaper to live in a kollektiv?
Often, but not always. According to listings on Bolighub as of 29 October 2026, three people sharing a 4-room flat in Copenhagen pay around DKK 6,750 each at the median. That is less than a 1-room flat at DKK 9,900. A single room in an existing kollektiv in Copenhagen, on the other hand, had a median of DKK 10,377, often with furniture and utilities included.
How many people can live in a flat if one person is the main tenant?
Under section 157 of lejeloven, the main tenant has the right to sublet up to half of the habitable rooms, and no more people may live there than there are habitable rooms. If you want to be more people, this should be agreed in writing with the landlord, and other rules on the number of residents may also come into play.
Can everyone in a kollektiv get boligstøtte?
As a starting point, no. According to borger.dk, only one person can get boligstøtte when several people live together, and that person must be a tenant. There are special rules for certain collective cohousing communities, for example for people over 55. Ask Udbetaling Danmark if you are unsure.
Can the kollektiv decide for itself who moves in?
Only if the landlord or main tenant agrees. Many kollektiver hold interviews, but if everyone is named on the lease, the landlord must, as a starting point, approve new tenants. If each resident has their own contract, it is typically the landlord who chooses.
What should I ask before moving into a kollektiv?
Ask who is named on the contract, whether you will get a written agreement, what the total monthly cost is, how you share chores and make decisions, and what happens to the deposit when you move out.
Sources and further reading
- Lov om leje (lejeloven) on Retsinformation (in Danish), especially section 157 on subletting
- Lov om individuel boligstøtte on Retsinformation (in Danish), including chapter 4 a on collective cohousing communities
- Lov om almene boliger m.v. on Retsinformation (in Danish), section 3 on cohousing in non-profit family homes
- Borger.dk: Søg boligstøtte (in Danish)
- Borger.dk: Flytning i Danmark (in Danish)
- Advokatfirmaet Engelbrecht: Hvor mange må bo i en lejlighed? Reglerne om fremleje og antal beboere (How many people can live in a flat? The rules on subletting and number of residents)
- Bolighub’s own rent figures for rooms and flats, calculated on 29 October 2026
This article is general guidance and not legal advice. The rules may depend on your contract and your specific situation.