§ 1-1. Who does the Act apply to?
The Tenancy Act (husleieloven) applies to you if you rent, or rent out, rented premises (husrom) for payment. This applies whether you rent a flat, a house, a room or business premises. The Act does not apply to hotel guests or to people who rent a cabin for a holiday.
Machine-translated from Norwegian. The Norwegian text is the one that applies. Read the original in Norwegian.Norsk English العربية Polski Українська
The text of the law (unofficial translation)
The Act applies to agreements on the right to use rented premises in return for consideration.
The Act applies even if the right to use a home is based on an employment agreement. Otherwise, the Act does not apply where something other than the right to use rented premises is the essential element of the contractual relationship.
The Act applies even if the consideration is wholly or partly set as something other than money.
The Act does not apply to agreements between hotels, guesthouses and similar accommodation establishments and their guests. Nor does the Act apply to agreements on the rental of rented premises for holiday and leisure use.
In this Act, home means rented premises that are to be used, wholly or to a not entirely insignificant extent, as a dwelling. In this Act, commercial premises means rented premises other than a home.
What does this mean?
The Tenancy Act applies when you pay to use someone else's rented premises. "Rented premises" means a place to live or run a business: a flat, a house, a room, a shop or an office.
Payment does not have to be money. Sometimes people pay for housing by doing work or providing services. That makes no difference. The Act still applies.
Two types of rented premises in the Act:
A home (bolig) is where you live. It can be a flat, a house, a bedsit building, or a room. What matters is that the place is to be used for living in, wholly or partly.
Commercial premises (lokale) are everything else: shops, offices, workshops, restaurants and the like.
The distinction is important because the Act gives tenants of a home stronger protection than tenants of commercial premises.
What the Act does not cover:
If you stay at a hotel or guesthouse, you are a guest, not a tenant (leier). The Act does not apply to you. The same applies if you rent a cabin for one week in the summer, or a holiday home for two weeks. Then you are on holiday, not renting in the sense of the Act.
An important limit: If you rent a room from someone and in practice it is more of an employment relationship or a care situation than a tenancy (leieforhold), the Act may not apply. What counts is what is the essential element of the agreement.
Examples
Kari rents a flat in Oslo for NOK 12,000 a month. She has a written tenancy agreement (leieavtale) and pays every month via Vipps. The Tenancy Act applies in full to her tenancy. She is protected by all the rules of the Act on notice of termination (oppsigelse), deposit (depositum) and maintenance (vedlikehold).
Lars is a managing director and rents the office premises for his company. He is a tenant of commercial premises, not a home. The Tenancy Act still applies, but Lars has somewhat fewer rights than a tenant of a home. Among other things, many of the rules can be departed from in a commercial lease (næringsleie) contract.
Common mistakes
- Thinking the Act does not apply because the agreement is verbal. Wrong. The Act applies whether the agreement is verbal or written.
- Thinking the Act applies to Airbnb stays. No. Short-term rental for holidays and leisure is not covered.
- Thinking you are not covered because you pay partly with work. Wrong. The Act applies even if the payment is not purely money.
What should you do?
Wondering whether you are covered by the Tenancy Act? Ask yourself: Are you paying to use someone else's rented premises over a period of time, and is it not a hotel or a holiday rental? Then the Act applies to you. If you are unsure, you can contact the Rent Disputes Tribunal (Husleietvistutvalget), which gives free guidance.
- § 1-2The Act cannot be departed from to the tenant's disadvantage
- § 1-4The tenancy agreement can be verbal or written
- § 2-1When you should get the keys
- Garage, holiday rental, hotel and borrowed home: when does the protection for homes not apply?
- Renting from a rental company or through an estate agent: this is what applies to you
- Pets in everyday life: inspection, shops, cafés and hotels
- The cabin has been rented out. Does the tenancy continue after the purchase?