Hei, I’m moving to Norway soon, and I’m now studying what the rental market looks like in Oslo, as well as on its outskirts. I’ve read some articles about what documents need to be provided in many cases to landlords, but some information still seems to be missing, so I would like to ask knowledgeable people here a couple of questions.
\- Is it actually possible to prepare and sign a rental contract for an apartment in Oslo while being outside of Oslo (and outside of Norway, for that matter)? Or does one have to come and personally look for properties while maintaining some sort of a short-term rental? In Canada, I sometimes signed rental contracts in other provinces before actually moving there. Those were one-year contracts.
\- The rental periods specified in ads at [finn.no](https://finn.no), is it necessary to subscribe to the entire rental periods? They are usually 3 years or so. Or can I just sign up for a minimum term, like for 1 year, which falls within the specified period?
Thank you in advance for clarifying those. I hope to understand the rental market there a little better with your help.
5 comments
One of the challenges in renting as an immigrant in Norway is the deposit. This should be stored in a special account to protect the tenant. But this requires the tenant to have a Bank-ID. To get a Bank-ID you need a Norwegian bank account, to get a bank account you need to be in the system, to be in the system you need to be here.
You can find landlord on Finn that will “hold” the money for you, but that comes at a risk (there are stories of landlords swindling immigrants on Immigrant Facebook Groups.) Professional letting agencies, will also hold your deposit whilst you get the BANK-ID sorted (it takes months!).
The rental period is generally 3 years but it’s breakable after 12 months with 3 months notice.
I’ve had hard time finding something. Everyone wanted references from previous landlords but since I never rented before I had none. Ended up moving between cabins and hotels for a few months until I found landlord who didn’t care about references in buttfuck nowhere 1.5 hours from Oslo.
But I guess it depends on the budget as well. If you can afford something more expensive or you don’t mind living with other people it might be easier for you.
Also I find it better to do this with the option to meet the landlord. I encountered quite a lot of scammers.
If the landlord accepts it, there is no legal reason why you can’t sign a rental contract remotely.
However, you should be very, very vigilant if you go for this. Rental scams are a thing in Norway as much as elsewhere, and when you have no chance to meet the landlord or see the rental property in person you have no real guarantee that the property even exists.
There is also the serviced apartment option. It would be more expensive but more flexible in the short term. Depends on your budget and timeframe. Could be useful whilst looking for a more permanent rental?
My company when I was working in Oslo rented several of those for employees from abroad that would come over for some 6-12 months stints.
On the time period. The legal minimum for a fixed term contract is three years, or one year if the apartment is part of the landlord’s house.
But it is legal to let out a place for a shorter period if there is a good reason to do so. So if you are only planning on being in Oslo for one year this can be written into the contract.
So if if you’d like a shorter period and have a good reason you can ask.
As for organising everything from abroad. The others have covered the problem with the security deposit account. In general there is a lot of competition for places in Oslo and in practice landlords prefer to meet the tenant first.
One thing you could do is put in an ad that states that you are looking for somewhere and a landlord may contact you. There are some here: https://www.finn.no/realestate/wanted/search.html
The site is in Norwegian but you can write an ad in English.