Where can I collect my key? What do I have to do when I move in? What to do if I want to cancel my contract? You will find the answers to these and many other questions below.
As a rule, AU Housing provides only one housing offer per student. This means that AU Housing cannot relocate you to another residence if you are not satisfied with your current accommodation.
Should such a situation occur, you are responsible to make your own arrangements. However, you can sign up at the waiting list at the AU Housing reception. Should a room become available during the semester, we will offer the room to the students on the waiting list.
Even though there might be vacant rooms in a residence, these rooms may not be distributed by the university and therefore cannot be given to other exchange students.
When we have allocated you a room, you will receive an email with a housing offer. You will be asked to visit the online student self-service system where you will find information about your address, rent and deposit. You must confirm that you accept the accommodation in the student self-service system and at the same time pay the first month's rent with a payment card. When we have received your confirmation, we will finalize your leasing contract and make sure that your key is ready to be picked up when you arrive in Aarhus. We can only give you one accommodation offer. Should you not accept this offer, we advise you to start looking for accommodation in Aarhus on your own.
You can find some suggestions for finding your own accommodation in Aarhus here.
CANCELLATION POLICY
All rooms offered via AU Housing have basic furniture: Bed, table, chair and lamp. You need to bring a duvet, pillow, bed linen (your bed is 90 cm x 200 cm) and towels. These items can also be bought cheaply in supermarkets in Denmark. AU has encouraged previous tenants to leave a duvet and pillow, so you may be lucky to find these items in your accommodation. However, this cannot be guaranteed.
Your room will have no decoration, so you might want to consider bringing some things to make your room nice (just make sure to take them with you again once you leave, or you will get charged with a garbage fee). Your kitchen will have basic kitchen utensils only (fork, knife, spoon, plate, glass, cup, pot and pan) so if you need a coffee machine, rice cooker, microwave, boiler or the like, you need to bring it.
Your bed is 90 x 200 cm.
Duvets etc. are not provided. Therefore you need to bring:
These things can also be bought cheaply in for instance IKEA, JYSK or bigger supermarkets.
AU has encouraged previous tenants to leave a duvet and pillow, so you may be lucky to find these items in your accommodation. However, this cannot be guaranteed.
(At these dorms you find duvet and pillow, and therefore you need to bring bed linen only: Teknolog, Vennelyst, IC Dorm.)
Arrival Aarhus
If you have reserved housing in Aarhus via AU Housing, you can pick up your key at the AU Housing reception at the International Centre, Dale T. Mortensen Building, Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 4A, 8000 Aarhus C. Please find information about the opening hours here.
You can collect your key after 1pm on the day your lease starts unless this day is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday. You can collect your key any weekday after the start of your lease. It means, that you don't have to arrive on the day your contract starts. If you arrive outside opening hours, your mentor might be able to collect your key before you arrive and meet you when you arrive.
Arrival Herning
If you have reserved housing in Herning, you can pick up your key at the reception at the AU Birk Campus. Read more here.
When does your contract start?
It is not possible to collect your key before your contract starts. If you arrive before your contract starts you can find information about temporary short term accommodation options. If your contract starts on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, you can't collect your key before the first coming workday. If your contract starts January 1st, please be aware that this is a public holiday.
It is not possible to postpone a leasing contract. If your arrival in Aarhus is delayed for any reason, you need to decide whether you want to cancel your leasing contract or continue to pay the rent from the start of the leasing period. If you decide to cancel your lease, please read the cancellation policy above.
1. Collect your key. Find the opening hours here.
2. Read your residence folder carefully.
3. Fill in your moving in checklist immediately after moving in.
4. Sign your contract and send it/hand it in to the AU Housing Office no later than 7 days after moving in.
Payment card needed
You need to have a payment card (or be able to borrow one) in order to make your reservation. It is not possible to pay your rent via bank transfer. After arrival you will also have to pay the monthly rent online by payment card. Rent is due on the first of the month. More information here.
Paying the first month's rent
You pay your first month's rent when you accept your housing offer. If your lease starts on the 15th, your first month's rent will only be a half month's rent.
Deposit
You will need to pay a refundable deposit of one to three months' rent. The deposit will be charged with your second month's rent (you will receive a bill by email at the end of your first month.) More information about deposit here.
Booking fee
When accepting a housing offer from AU Housing, you accept to pay a non-refundable booking fee of 600 DKK. The booking fee will be charged only once (not every month).
You must pay the first month’s rent and the deposit to your landlord immediately after receiving your leasing contract, before your arrival in Aarhus.
If you for any reason want to shorten your contract, you can send in a notice form. In your contract you can find the notice deadlines. At most leases you have either 6 weeks notice to the 1st/15th OR 1 month's notice to the 1st.
Example 1 - one month's notice
Your contract ends 31.1., but you want to move out already 31.12. You check your contract and find out that you have one month's notice to the 1st. Therefore you need to send your notice form to housing@au.dk before 1.12.
Example 2 - 6 weeks notice
Your contract ends 31.1., but you want to move out already 31.12. You check your contract and find out that you have 6 weeks notice to the 1st and 15th. Therefore you need to send your notice form to housing@au.dk before 15.11.
Moving out procedures, inspection, deposit and much more. Check it out here.
In most dorms in Denmark you must move out some days or weeks before your contract ends. This period is called the maintenance period. You are obliged to pay your rent in the maintenance period. The janitor will during these days clean and maintain the room. In some dorms the maintenance period is 7 weekdays, in others it is two weeks. In a few dorms they don't have a maintenance period at the end of the lease and you can stay until the last weekday in the contract. In these dorms the maintenance period is in the beginning of the lease and you might therefore not be able to move in on the first days of the contract.
The maintenance period is laid down by the Danish rental legislation. Aarhus University doesn't own residences but mediates contact between internationals and dorm owners. AU is aware of the inconvenience this legislation causes but we are not able to change the legislation.
As rules are different from dorm to dorm, check your online residence information for the rules at your specific dorm.
In many dorms guests are allowed for a few days. Some dorms don't allow guests staying overnight. In shared houses it is not possible to have guests staying overnight. Find information under each place here.
Pets are not allowed in any housing offered through AU Housing.
Therefore, if you wish to bring your pet, you will need to look for housing at the private market. Many landlords don't allow pets, so be sure to receive confirmation before you sign the contract,
It is your responsibility to insure yourself and your belongings while you are staying in Denmark as Aarhus University does not cover any losses that may occur. We highly recommend that you take out the following insurance policies either before or immediately after arriving in Denmark.
If you decide to buy insurance in Denmark, the University recommends that you contact different insurance companies to find the one that best suits your needs. The large insurance companies such as TRYG, Alm. Brand Forsikring and Top Danmark have homepages in English.
Read more here.
Many international tenants have pointed out that there are aspects of living in Denmark specific to here, which are good to know when you rent accommodation. Here they are!
The moving out date is not always the same as the end date of your contract. You might have to move out up to 2 weeks before your contract ends. Check the exact dates for moving out on the Online Residence Information under "Contract" - there you will find a link to a PDF-file with all the dates for your accommodation.
Denmark has some of the cleanest water in the world, so it is safe to drink it straight from the cold-water tap.
Radiators in Denmark have a thermostat. This means that you can control the temperature in your room yourself. However, you should turn off the heat when you air out your room, as the radiator will heat more trying to keep the same temperature in the room and thus waste energy and money. Switch it on again when you close the windows.
The water in Denmark is very hard, which causes a build-up of limescale, especially on walls, floors in the shower, fixtures and toilets. You can get rid of it using a special limescale removing product ("kalkfjerner" in Danish, you can by it in all supermarkets).
When you move out, the janitor will inspect the bathroom and kitchen and pay special attention to limescale. It is impossible to get rid of limescale if you try to get rid of it all at once just before you move out. We recommend you to remove the limescale once a week during your stay in Denmark so it does not build up too much - this way, you will avoid fees for a cleaning company.
Denmark and Aarhus are generally nice and safe places to live, work and study. However, it is important that you remember to lock the doors and windows when you are not home as well as when for instance you prepare food and socialise in the common kitchen.
Remember that it is your responsibility to insure yourself and your belongings while you stay in Denmark. Aarhus University and your dormitory do not cover any losses that may occur. We highly recommend that you check this guide.
