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Introduced to the Danish Rent Act in 1975, the obligation to offer rules require landlords to offer tenants the opportunity to acquire their property as a cooperative housing association before selling it to a third party. These rules apply to buildings with at least six flats, or thirteen if commercial units are included, but there are certain exemptions.
When this right is triggered, tenants have the right, but not the obligation, to buy the property. If they choose to exercise this right, a housing cooperative must be established within the prescribed deadline to complete the purchase on the proposed terms. If the right is not exercised, the property may be sold to a third party without affecting the rights of the tenants.
On 12 August 2025, the committee published its report noting that compliance places a significant burden on landlords, yet rarely leads to the establishment of new housing cooperatives. The report sets out a number of proposals aimed at streamlining and modernising the framework. In this newsletter, we outline the most significant proposed changes.
Removal of the “double holding model”
Under the current rules, the obligation to offer does not apply to the transfer of shares in holding companies, even when the subsidiary company owns a property that is subject to the rules. The committee now proposes abolishing this so-called “double holding model,” ensuring that such indirect transfers will also trigger the rules in future.
It is also unclear whether the current rules apply to sales made before construction is completed. The committee supports an amendment to clarify that landlords and tenants can agree that the rules do not apply in such cases.
Specifically, the proposal adds a provision stating that the obligation to offer can be waived if the transfer occurs before an occupancy permit is issued, provided the tenancy agreement specifies that the property is to be subdivided or converted into owner-occupied flats.
Additional recommendations include:
The obligation to offer rules also cover the transfer of voting rights in limited liability companies that own the property. Previously, however, the mandatory obligation to offer applied only if a single buyer obtained majority control. Landlords could therefore circumvent the rules by selling the property to several buyers so that no single buyer acquired more than 50%.
This loophole was tested in the widely publicised Six Pack case in 2020, when the Carlsberg Foundation transferred six properties to three pension funds in such a way that no single entity gained a majority stake. The Danish Supreme Court held that the rules had not been triggered, prompting a political debate that resulted in the legislature closing this loophole with effect from 1 January 2024.
From that date onwards, the rules have applied to the sale of shares in property-owning companies to multiple buyers, even if no single buyer obtains majority control. Had the Six Pack case arisen after the amendment came into effect, the rules would therefore have been triggered.
We expect the committee’s proposed legislative amendments to have a considerable impact on all future property transactions where the obligation to offer is triggered. We will follow the adoption of the amendments closely. The specialists in Gorrissen Federspiel’s Real Estate group remain available to provide guidance and support.