Buying a home in Denmark as a foreigner: mortgage, reports, costs

Do you need permission to buy property in Denmark?

Check this before you start viewing. Under the Acquisition Act (erhvervelsesloven), a person who does not live in Denmark, and has not lived here for a total of five years, can only buy real property with the Justice Minister’s permission (retsinformation.dk). Civilstyrelsen (the Civil Affairs Agency) handles the applications (Civilstyrelsen).

• Resident in Denmark? “Residence” means Civilstyrelsen judges whether Denmark is your fixed and lasting home. It looks at how long you have lived here, family, language, work and education (Civilstyrelsen FAQ). A short or temporary stay generally does not count (boligejer.dk).
• EU/EEA citizen? You can generally buy a year-round home (helårsbolig) without permission. Instead you sign a declaration to the Land Registration Court (Tinglysningsretten). The condition is that you work here, are self-employed here, or can support yourself and have health cover.
• Summer house? A secondary home, such as a summer house, needs permission even for EU citizens, unless you meet the residence requirement.

Permission is given for one specific property, so you apply after you have found it (Civilstyrelsen FAQ). If you need it, tell your adviser before you sign anything so the deal can be made conditional on it.

What does the bank need to see first?

The bank decides whether this happens, not the house. Before you view seriously, get a forhåndsgodkendelse (pre-approval) from your bank. Expect to show payslips, your employment contract and how long you have been in the job, your tax assessments (årsopgørelse) and your savings.

There is no fixed deposit percentage in law. Danish rules require the lender to make sure you put in an appropriate down payment. Finanstilsynet’s guidance treats 5% of the price as the starting point, and says the lender must assess it case by case, up or down (Finanstilsynet guidance, VEJ 9458/2023). Banks also look at how much you have left each month after housing costs, so the deposit is necessary but not enough on its own. Rules change, so ask your bank what it requires today.

How is a Danish home loan structured?

Most purchases are financed in three layers: your own money, a realkreditlån (mortgage-credit loan) and a boliglån (bank loan) for the gap.

• Realkredit can lend up to 80% of the value of a year-round home, or 75% for a summer house (realkreditloven § 5).
• The bank loan covers the gap between your own money and the 80% mark. Each bank sets its own terms, so compare it as carefully as the mortgage.

A realkredit loan is funded by bonds. The lender issues bonds that match your loan and sells them in the market, which sets your rate; refinancing of adjustable loans is done by selling bonds, often at auction (Finanstilsynet). You choose:

• Fast rente (fixed rate): the same rate for the life of the loan, up to 30 years.
• Variabel rente (adjustable rate): the rate resets at fixed intervals. In 2025 Danish homeowners moved from fixed to variable loans, according to Danmarks Nationalbank.

The lenders are DLR Kredit, Jyske Realkredit, Nordea Kredit, Realkredit Danmark and Nykredit/Totalkredit. You normally reach them through your bank. Besides interest you pay an ongoing bidrag (contribution fee) and one-off costs when the loan is paid out, such as kursskæring (a spread on the bond price) and loan fees. Compare the total, not the headline rate (Finanstilsynet).

How does a purchase actually happen?

1. You make an offer. Until the seller accepts, you can withdraw it.
2. The estate agent drafts the købsaftale (purchase agreement). By law the agent advises the seller and looks after the seller’s interests, and nobody may represent both buyer and seller in the same sale (lov om formidling af fast ejendom §§ 24 and 26). The agent must tell you that you can get your own adviser.
3. You sign with a rådgiverforbehold (adviser approval clause). This makes your signature conditional on your lawyer approving the deal, normally within 3-5 days. Through it your lawyer can renegotiate terms, add conditions, or pull you out free. If no objection reaches the agent by the deadline, you are bound (boligejer.dk).
4. The legal withdrawal right runs alongside (see below).
5. Your lawyer registers the deed (skøde) and prepares the settlement of costs between buyer and seller (refusionsopgørelse).

What does your own lawyer do, and what does it cost?

A boligadvokat (property lawyer) or køberrådgiver (buyer’s adviser) works only for you. They read the purchase agreement and the documents behind it. That includes the servitutter (easements and restrictions registered on the property), any mortgages and charges, the local plan, and whether extensions or a converted loft were approved. They can add conditions to the contract, such as time to finalise the loan or an inspection by your own building surveyor. Many buyers skip this to save money and find the problem after they have moved in.

Prices are commercial and vary. Two published examples (October 2026): eBoligadvokat charges a fixed DKK 7,250 including VAT for a house or flat, DKK 4,950 for an andelsbolig, and nothing if the deal does not go through (eBoligadvokat). A Danske Boligadvokater member lawyer advertises buyer advice from DKK 9,500 including VAT (Danske Boligadvokater). Get the price and what it covers in writing.

What are the condition report and the electrical report?

These two reports make up the house inspection scheme (huseftersynsordningen):

• Tilstandsrapport (condition report): a beskikket bygningssagkyndig (an appointed building surveyor) inspects the house and describes visible damage and signs of hidden damage. The surveyor is appointed by Erhvervsstyrelsen and works for neither side (boligejer.dk).
• Elinstallationsrapport (electrical installation report): made by an electrical contractor and covering whether the installation works and is legal (Sikkerhedsstyrelsen). Sikkerhedsstyrelsen has been part of Erhvervsstyrelsen since January 2026.

The seller is not obliged to get them. The scheme is voluntary (boligejer.dk). But under the consumer protection act, a seller who gives you both reports, an insurance offer and a written, binding promise to pay at least half the premium, all before you sign, is largely freed from liability for the building’s physical condition (forbrugerbeskyttelsesloven § 2). That is why almost every sale includes them.

The old K1/K2/K3 grades were replaced on 1 October 2020 by colour symbols (Sikkerhedsstyrelsen):

• Grey: minor damage.
• Yellow: serious damage that will cause failure in the longer term.
• Red: critical damage, with failure now or soon.
• Question mark: possible damage that should be investigated. If you buy without investigating it, the risk is yours.

The reports are a survey, not a guarantee. If the report is thin, or has question marks on the roof, damp or the drains, pay for your own surveyor before your adviser approves the deal. We could not find a published price we could confirm for that, so ask for quotes.

What does ejerskifteforsikring cover, and what is the trap?

Ejerskifteforsikring (owner-change insurance) covers hidden damage that is not in the reports and that you did not know about when you took over the house. Standard cover runs for 5 or 10 years. Extended cover adds things like pollution of the ground and illegal service pipes (boligejer.dk). It is a one-off premium. In 2022 premiums ranged from about DKK 12,000 to about DKK 200,000 (boligejer.dk’s figure). The seller pays half of the cheapest offer they gave you, and you can buy from another insurer.

The trap: your claim against the seller is limited once you have received the reports and the insurance offer. Taking the insurance is not what limits it. So declining the insurance does not give you back a claim against the seller; it leaves you uninsured. Decide on the insurance and the reports together, with your adviser.

Can you change your mind after signing?

Yes, at a price. A buyer of a property that is mainly meant as the buyer’s home, including a summer house, can withdraw within 6 working days of the agreement. Written notice must reach the seller before the deadline, and you must pay compensation of 1% of the price to the seller. Saturdays and Constitution Day do not count as working days (forbrugerbeskyttelsesloven §§ 7-13). In practice the days count from when you are told the seller has signed. On a DKK 2.5 million home, the 1% is DKK 25,000 (boligejer.dk). The adviser approval clause is the free exit. The withdrawal right is the expensive emergency brake.

What does it cost on top of the price?

Registration fee rates: info.skat.dk.

Running costs. You pay two property taxes:

• Ejendomsværdiskat (property value tax): 5.1 per mille of 80% of the official valuation up to a threshold, and 14 per mille above it (info.skat.dk).
• Grundskyld (land tax): the rate is set by your municipality.

Both are collected monthly through your preliminary income assessment (forskudsopgørelse), which you must update when you buy (skat.dk). In 2026 the tax is provisional, based on a preliminary valuation. Add house insurance, maintenance and, in an ejerlejlighed (owner-occupied flat), the monthly fællesudgifter (common charges) to the owners’ association.

Which kinds of home can you buy?

• Ejerbolig: a house or an owner-occupied flat (ejerlejlighed) that you own outright.
• Andelsbolig: you buy a share in a housing cooperative, not the flat itself (Københavns Kommune). The association’s own debt matters. Finanstilsynet’s starting point for the down payment is 5% of the share price plus 5% of your proportional share of the association’s debt.
• Sommerhus: an investment or a holiday home, never your permanent home. The Planning Act bans overnight stays in winter except short holidays (family holidays guide), and a mortgage covers at most 75% of the value.

If you are not ready to buy, see renting an apartment in Copenhagen and deposits and moving out.

Common mistakes

• Viewing houses before checking whether you need Civilstyrelsen’s permission.
• Signing a purchase agreement without an adviser approval clause.
• Treating the agent’s advice as advice for you.
• Ignoring the question marks in the condition report.
• Assuming you can turn down the ejerskifteforsikring and sue the seller instead.
• Forgetting to update the forskudsopgørelse, then getting a tax bill at year end.

If something goes wrong

Complaints about a condition report go to the disciplinary board for building surveyors via husklage.dk. Complaints about an electrical report go to Ankenævnet for Tekniske Installationer (Sikkerhedsstyrelsen). Hidden damage after you move in is a claim on your ejerskifteforsikring; contact the insurer quickly and keep photos.