Frederiksberg Municipality reports company to the police for illegal room rentals

Frederiksberg Municipality has reported the housing rental company LifeX to the police for illegally renting out rooms in apartments without the necessary municipal approval. The report comes after repeated warnings from the municipality that the company was required to apply for permission for its rental practices.

This is stated by the Danish Tenants’ Organisation, LLO, in a press release.

“Frederiksberg Municipality has previously warned LifeX that we would report the company to the police if it did not apply for approval to rent out rooms in the apartments it owns in Frederiksberg. We can now ascertain that LifeX continues to rent out rooms without having applied for approval, and therefore we have now reported them to the police. In Frederiksberg, we want to preserve the mixed city, and if the norm becomes ‘serviced’ rooms at many thousands of kroner in rent, it will become difficult,” says Mayor Michael Vindfeldt (Social Democrats) to the members’ magazine Vi Lejere.

LifeX rents out rooms in large, grand apartments, which are often owned by pension funds and private equity funds. According to the municipality, the company itself is responsible for the selection and replacement of tenants, the collection of rent, operations and cleaning, which taken together places them as the actual landlords – without permission.

The Danish Tenants’ Organisation (LLO) has long warned against LifeX’s model, which it believes circumvents tenancy legislation and drives up rents. Director Claus Højte from LLO Greater Copenhagen believes the case is a matter of principle and calls for political action:
“Municipalities should be able to require lease contracts to be handed over as well as evidence from the landlord and owner that they have not abolished family dwellings. Without this, the cases become almost impossible to handle.”

He emphasizes the importance of the case:
“The case against LifeX is important because it sends a clear signal to the market: Letting must take place according to the rules – even when it is wrapped in concepts such as community and flexibility.”

According to Frederiksberg Municipality, LifeX’s approach falls outside the applicable rules. Professor of tenancy law at Aarhus University, Hans Henrik Edlund, assesses to Politiken that these are club rooms and calls the model a clear circumvention of the law – an assessment shared by LLO.

The case has led to political initiatives, with a bill containing five measures being presented, which are intended to prevent models like LifeX’s in the future.

LifeX itself describes its form of letting as coliving and its tenants as members. The company states that it has 1,000 members from more than 50 countries across seven major European cities, including Copenhagen.