Tomtefeste (ground lease)

Tomtefeste means you own the home itself but lease the ground it stands on from a landowner (often a municipality, a farm, or a company). For the lease you pay an annual ground rent, the festeavgift.

The festeavgift can be adjusted in line with the consumer price index, so it follows inflation over time. It is a fixed, recurring cost on top of the loan, kommunale avgifter, and maintenance, and one that a selveier on freehold land does not have.

You can demand to buy out (innløse) a residential plot once 30 years of the lease have passed, and every second year thereafter. Buying out makes the home a full freehold, but costs a lump sum you should factor in. Check the sales prospectus for whether the plot is leased or owned, what the festeavgift is, and when it can be adjusted or bought out.