International students > Housing > Exchange Students > Halls and Shared Housing
Halls of Residence and Shared Student Apartments
Application Procedure
To apply for a room through the International Office, tick off housing in your online application. Then make a prioritized list of all the options listed below, not just your top choices. Copy the list into the “special request” field in the online application. The International Office will take your request into consideration when matching vacant rooms with students. When making your list, note the expected vacancies in each housing option. The fewer vacancies, the smaller the chance will be of getting that particular housing offer.
Eligibility
All students who have submitted a complete application for housing and admission within the housing window are equally eligible for an offer if any vacancies are left. However, the sooner you complete your application; the better is your chance of getting an offer and getting one which is high on your prioritized list.
Receiving an Offer
The International Office will send you one housing offer to your University of Copenhagen e-mail account. You will have a deadline to inform the office if you want to accept or decline. You should always reply whether you accept or decline. If you accept, you must sign the contract and e-mail it within the reply deadline. There will be a second deadline for your payment. You must e-mail the payment receipt within that deadline.
Please note that offers are sent only to your University of Copenhagen e-mail account, and that it is your responsibility to check it on a regular basis.
We are only able to provide one housing offer per student who has applied within the housing window. If you choose to decline your housing offer, or you do not respond to the housing offer within the deadline stated in your offer, you take on the responsibility of finding housing on your own. As finding housing is quite difficult in Copenhagen – especially from abroad – we advise you to accept the offer from the International Office.
When do I Receive my Offer?
The housing allocation process runs over many months. Therefore, students from the same university do not necessarily receive their offer at the same time.
Due to the large number of applicants and the difficult housing situation in Copenhagen, you may receive a housing offer from us as late as two weeks before the beginning of your studies. If you have not heard from us two weeks prior to your arrival, please feel free to contact the housing coordinators at int-housing@adm.ku.dk.
Rental Period
If you rent one of the rooms in a hall of residence or shared student apartment which the International Office facilitates, standard rental periods and conditions apply. The standard periods vary slightly from place to place. Please see under each option.
If you have chosen to include the pre-semester language course in your online application, the rental period will include that month. If you withdraw from the course after you have received your housing offer, you can chose to decline the offer and find housing on your own, or accept the offer as it is although you will be arriving later. The total rent will remain unchanged. If you have already accepted the offer, the rental agreement is binding (please see Cancellation).
Please note that especially in the autumn semester, most vacancies include the pre-semester Danish language course (rental period from medio July).
The first day of your tenancy may be a couple of days into the month if the previous student has just moved out, as the International Office must have 3-4 working days to carry out inspections etc.
If your period of study varies greatly from the standard admission dates of 1 August and 1 September in the autumn and 1 January and 1 February in the spring, you are required to inform the housing office of this. The housing office is not informed automatically. Generally we cannot provide a housing offer in a hall of residence or shared student apartment in a period which differs from the standard admission dates. The housing coordinators must be informed of any changes to your study period before you receive your housing offer.
Rental Conditions
Offers are non-terminable time-limited housing offers which mean that a tenant cannot shorten his/her contract without finding another international student to take over the contract. This goes for all offers except Tranehavegård shared apartments in which the entire apartment can be given three month’s notice to the first of a month. This requires that both tenants agree on giving notice.
To have the halls of residences accept international students on short stays, the International Office must guarantee that rent is paid throughout the year. It is illegal for a university in Denmark to cover rent for students. Therefore, a student cannot move out in the middle of the semester and leave the rest of the rent that semester to be paid by the University.
You cannot opt out of the general terms and still live in one of rooms facilitated by the International Office.
Cancellation
Before the first rental day and move-in, you have the right to withdraw your acceptance of your residential tenancy agreement up to 14 days after the date the housing offer has been sent to you and has been received in your university inbox (in accordance with the Danish Act on Certain Consumer Contracts). This is called the cooling-off period. Offers are always sent to your university e-mail account as the system logs when anything has been sent and received. Please note that you have to contact the International Office and confirm the withdrawal of your acceptance and get an e-mail confirmation of the withdrawal. If you withdraw close to the very end of the cooling off period, you should call the International Office as well as e-mail to ensure that your withdrawal is received.
If you withdraw your acceptance after termination of the cooling-off period, you will be charged the deposit. This procedure also applies if you have to cancel your entire stay in Denmark prior to the first day of the rental period. It is not dependent on whether or not you have paid the rent and deposit due. Having failed to uphold the payment conditions of the contract does not exempt you from paying the deposit. In cases where students break their housing contract, their home university will always be contacted.
If you do not cancel your stay in Denmark but still want to withdraw after the first rental day, it will be necessary to find an international exchange student at the University of Copenhagen to take over your rental contract before it can be terminated regardless of whether or not you have moved in. Until then, you will be required to pay the rent and deposit.
Arrival
You can gain access to the room at 12 o’clock noon on the first working day of your rental contract and must be out of the room prior to 12 o’clock noon on the last day of your rental contract. It is strictly prohibited to try to force access prior to the first day of your contract date. You must take the first date of your contract date into account when planning your arrival. If you want to come to Denmark prior to the first day of your contract, you may wish to book a hostel.
List of Halls of Residences and Shared Student Apartments
FAQ
If you have further questions, our FAQ might prove helpful.
