LifeX Blog
This blog post is for all our current members and our future potential tenants of Denmark, as we wanted to keep you updated on the current media attention to LifeX. We understand the recent articles have raised questions about LifeX and our housing model, and we’d like to provide some clarity.
Our concept was created to help address a structural challenge in the Danish housing market — the shortage of quality housing options for singles and couples, the high deposits and upfront payments required when relocating, and the difficulty of finding a genuine sense of community in a new city. I started LifeX 8 years ago when I moved to Copenhagen from San Francisco and found it super hard to find housing and I lived at LifeX myself as a member for 3+ years. 
Unfortunately we have been getting a lot of media attention as Frederiksberg municipality’s political leadership has recently taken the position that LifeX’s model constitutes that of room letting and therefore requires a permit.
This is from a misunderstanding on how our contracts are structured; our members sign onto the entire apartment along with their housemates. While we are naturally disappointed by this interpretation, we fully respect their right to hold a different view. It is important to emphasize that LifeX has not engaged in any illegal activity and that we are working closely with the municipality to resolve this matter.
We are also not afraid to take this to court if it goes that far, as it will help establish a clearer framework for coliving housing providing modern, flexible, community-driven solutions in Denmark. To give further context, this old laws about "room letting" was created in 1970's like klubværelse to prevent unsafe housing. In the modern era of bofællesskab, or Co-living, Sweden recently proposed housing legislation to formally recognize and create a framework for how to operate Coliving and other forms of flexible housing solutions that can be one of the tools to help in the shortage of housing. We believe there is a better way forward by following what's happened in Sweden.
We are aware that the articles mentioned a possible police report. Please rest assured that we are collaborating with the help of our legal counsel who firmly believe we are in full compliance, and are taking all necessary actions to ensure there is no risk for our members. It is also only in Frederiksberg Municipality, not Copenhagen nor Aarhus.
We understand that being in a situation, as a member, seeing what is being said about LifeX in the media, can make you feel uneasy. We take this matter very seriously and our top priority remains your comfort, security, and peace of mind during this process.
To explain LifeX, we have been sharing this explanatory presentation with media and politicians to create more awareness of what problems LifeX is solving - please check out the link if you'd like to learn yourself.
LifeX is not the only solution to the housing shortage of Denmark and we have never claimed to be. But we believe it's time for a better way of discussing regulation and frameworks.
You can always reach out to our support if you have any questions or are in need of assistance ❤️