Through the 1980s, conflict between the users and the city officials flared up. The users complained that about the city officials not keeping to their part of the agreement by demanding that the house live up to all kind of standards set by the city council. The city officials claimed that the users had no right to interfere with their work and said that Ungdomshuset had to live up to the standards set by the city council regarding public meeting places and daytime projects. The users replied by refusing to pay rent and retaliated by stating that Ungdomshuset was an autonomous social experiment and not a publicly run youth club or kindergarten. This made the city officials shut of the house supply of oil used for central heating. The users managed by installing wood fueled heating ovens in the major rooms of the house.