The buying process in Denmark: right to withdraw, attorney-approval clause and parental purchase

You can always withdraw from a property purchase within 6 working days after both parties have signed the purchase agreement, but it costs you a compensation of 1% of the purchase price to the seller. If you want a completely free way out, should the numbers or the paperwork not hold up, you need to secure an attorney-approval clause (advokatforbehold) in the agreement before you sign. It is the most important sentence in the entire transaction, and it is not there automatically.

The right to withdraw costs 1%, the attorney-approval clause is free

Your statutory right to withdraw (fortrydelsesret) runs for 6 working days from the day both parties have signed. Saturdays do not count as working days, and Constitution Day does not count either. If you withdraw, you must pay 1% of the purchase price in compensation to the seller. On a home worth DKK 4,000,000 that is DKK 40,000, so the right to withdraw is an emergency brake, not a free period to think it over.

An attorney-approval clause (advokatforbehold) is something else and something better. It is a sentence in the purchase agreement stating that the deal is only binding if your property lawyer (boligadvokat) approves it. If the lawyer does not approve, you step out without paying a single krone, and without the 1% compensation. The attorney-approval clause is not standard in a purchase agreement. You or your adviser must ask to have it written in, and it must be there before you put your signature down. A property lawyer typically costs between DKK 4,450 and 10,000 and reviews the agreement, easements and finances within the clause’s deadline.

The order of a property transaction

A typical transaction follows a fixed order. When you know the steps, you know when you can still get out and when you are bound.

Step	What happens	Your safeguard
1. Financing	Loan approval from the bank, an overview of the down payment (udbetaling) (min. 5%) and debt factor (gældsfaktor)	You know what you can bid
2. Viewing and documents	Read the condition report (tilstandsrapport), electrical installation report (elinstallationsrapport) and the offer of change-of-ownership insurance (ejerskifteforsikring)	You know the home’s faults
3. Purchase agreement	Negotiation and signature, attorney-approval clause written in	The clause is your free exit
4. Deposit	Max. 7% or DKK 200,000 with the agent, the rest via a bank guarantee	The money is secured
5. Conveyancing	The property lawyer registers the deed (skøde)	You become the owner

The deposit is limited to 7% of the purchase price or DKK 200,000 with the agent, and the rest of the cash portion is provided as a bank guarantee, so your money is not left exposed before takeover. Remember too that the registration fee (tinglysningsafgift) for the deed is DKK 1,850 plus 0.6% of the purchase price, while the agent’s commission is paid by the seller.

Buying together as an unmarried couple: write a co-ownership agreement

If you buy a home together without being married, there is no division set by law between you. Marriage triggers rules on equal division, but as cohabitants each of you owns your own share, and the law does not help you if you split up. That is why a co-ownership agreement (samejeoverenskomst) is the most important document you sign besides the purchase agreement itself.

A co-ownership agreement sets out how large a share each of you owns, how you split costs, what happens in a break-up, and who can buy the other out. Without it, an unequal down payment can disappear in a conflict, because on paper you each own half, even if one of you put in more. Make it while you agree, and let a property lawyer draw it up together with the transaction.

Parental purchase: market rent and a tax-free gift in 2026

A parental purchase (forældrekøb) is when parents buy a home and rent it out to their child, typically a student home. The key tax point is that the rent must be set at market rent. If you set the rent artificially low, the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen) taxes you on the rent you ought to have charged, so the advantage disappears.

You can, however, help the child in a lawful way. In 2026, each parent can give a tax-free gift of DKK 80,600 per year to each child. Two parents can therefore together give DKK 161,200 tax-free, and that gift can be used to cover part of the rent or the down payment. A parental purchase is an investment with ordinary property taxation, so calculate the owner expenses (ejerudgifter), property value tax (ejendomsværdiskat) and land tax (grundskyld) before you decide. If you choose an owner-occupied flat (ejerlejlighed) over a housing cooperative share (andelsbolig), you can rent it out freely, while many cooperative associations restrict subletting.

The most important things to remember

Write the attorney-approval clause in before you sign, so your only real exit does not cost 1%. Understand the order, so you know when you are bound. If you buy together without being married, a co-ownership agreement protects you both. And in a parental purchase, market rent and the tax-free gift of DKK 80,600 per parent keep you on the right side of the rules.