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Køberguide
05 January 2023
3 min.

Things to consider when you want to buy a flat in Copenhagen

Buying an apartment in a buzzing and vibrant metropolis such as Copenhagen requires many considerations. First and foremost, you need to find out which type of apartment you want to purchase. Because in Denmark, two types of apartments exist, and they have different obligations and requirements.

Tomas
Tomas Maltha Krogh
Advisor and Partner
Vinter Nyhavn

As mentioned above, there are two types of apartments that you can purchase in Denmark; Condominiums and Cooperative apartments. Which of the two is better depends entirely on your needs and wishes. Below, we have gathered the most important pros and cons that every potential flat owner should take into consideration when looking to buy an apartment in Denmark.

If you are more interested in buying a house, we recommend you to read our article on things to consider when wanting to buy a house in Denmark.

Condominiums

When you buy a condominium, you own it.

Condominiums are almost always more expensive than co-op apartments, meaning you have to borrow more money if you want to buy the former. There is a silver lining, of course, and that is that a mortgage is cheaper than a bank loan. When you buy a condominium, you – and only you – decide which loans you want to take

When buying property, which a condominium qualifies as in Denmark, you can finance up to 80% of it with a mortgage. Up to 15% can be financed with a bank loan and you must put down at least 5% of the purchase price. However, this only applies for Danish and EU/EEA citizens. Read more about how to buy property in Denmark as a foreigner.

  • Condominium owners must pay property tax
  • Condominium owners can sublease their property.

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Co-op apartment

The story is different if you want to invest in a co-op apartment. As you are buying a share into the tenant owner’s association owning the entire property – and not the individual property per se – you cannot obtain a mortgage. Instead, you must take out a bank loan which is more expensive.

When you buy a co-op apartment, not only do you buy yourself into the tenant owner’s association’s property. You also buy yourself into its financial situation.

In other words, its past loans and financial decisions are yours.

This highlights the importance of thoroughly investigating a tenant owner’s association’s (andelsbolig forening) financial status before committing further. Because if the association runs into any financial trouble, then guess who has to pay? That’s right, you, the shareholder/tenant.

  • Co-op apartment owners don’t have to pay property tax.
  • Co-op apartment owners might be able to lease their apartments, but it is the tenant owner’s association’s statutes that have the final say.

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Maintenance

Co-op apartment owners are required to maintain their homes. Meanwhile, condominium owners decide how much effort they want to put into maintaining their homes. However, it is advisable to maintain your property regularly to keep the value from diminishing.

A certain sense of community is expected no matter which apartment you buy

When you buy a co-op apartment, you are expected to take part in joint duties, such as maintaining the property, making financial decisions etc.

This is also the case for condominium owners but to a lesser extent. Even though you own your home, you still share roofs, common areas etc., with the other tenants in the building.

As such, you are expected to contribute to maintenance expenses.

Your choice of apartment might limit your refurbishing dreams

Co-op apartment owners aren’t allowed to make major changes in their homes without a permit from the tenant owner’s association’s committee.

With a condominium, you are free to do whatever you want because you own the property.

Which type is more profitable

A condominium can be a source of profit should you decide to sell it someday. Though for that to happen, you have to pay off your debt, and your property’s value must increase.

Prospects of profit aren’t as favourable for co-op apartments as they have a price cap. The price cap is determined by factors such as the property’s value and its debt.

As you can see, there are pros and cons to each apartment type. Whether you should choose one or the other depends entirely on your needs and wishes. A co-op apartment can be just as accommodating as a condominium and vice versa.

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