Copenhagen Property Market Report 2020

Copenhagen Property Market Report 2020

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Call for smaller units Vacancy in large and newly built ˜ats mainly ties in with the fact that recent years’ residential construction has failed to meet actual demand. In order to attract more young families with children, the City of Copenhagen back in 2001 ruled that new dwellings must be 95 sq m on average. In 2015, the regulation was eased to the e§ect that 25% of units in newbuilding schemes are exempt from the minimum size requirement. Nevertheless, demand for small-sized housing units has greatly outstripped the new supply added to the market. The Copenhagen population has a predominance of single-person households or singles – individuals with neither the need, nor the ƒnancial means to pay for a bigger ˜at. For the same ƒnancial reasons, an increasing number of families tend to continue living in the same home even after a new addition to the family. Like vacancy, this phenomenon has been one of the factors fostering di§erent relative rent levels across unit sizes with pronounced hikes in the rents commanded by small units throughout Copenhagen. It is therefore fair to say that the Copenhagen housing market is imbalanced. However, we expect coming years’ supply to become more aligned with actual needs or demand as the City of Copenhagen is likely to ease the size regulation even further by allowing up to 50% smaller units in residential newbuilding.

Behov for mindre boliger Tomgangen i de større og nyopførte lejligheder skyldes i høj grad, at de senere års boligbyggeri ikke har dækket det faktiske behov. For at tiltrække ˜ere børnefamilier vedtog Københavns Kommune tilbage i 2001, at nybyggede boliger i gennemsnit skal være 95 kvadratmeter. I 2015 blev reglen lempet, så 25% af boligerne ved nye projekter er undtaget for kravet om mindstestørrelse. Alligevel har efterspørgslen på mindre boliger markant overgået det udbud, der er blevet tilføjet til markedet. Befolkningen i København består i høj grad af enlige eller singler – personer, der hverken har behov for større boliger eller råd til at betale dem. Af samme økonomiske årsager, vælger også ˜ere børnefamilier i højere grad at blive boende i samme bolig som før familieforøgelsen. Dette fænomen har, ligesom med tomgangen, bidraget til forskelligartede relative lejeniveauer på tværs af enhedsstørrelser med betydelige stigninger i lejen for mindre boliger i hele København. Boligmarkedet i København må derfor betegnes som værende i ubalance. Vi forventer dog, at udbuddet de kommende år i højere grad vil blive tilpasset det faktiske behov eller efterspørgslen, fordi der er udsigt til, at kommunen vil opbløde reglen yderligere og tillade op mod 50% mindre boliger ved nybyggeri.

Strong predominance of singles

50% Singles 19% Married couples 16% Other couples 15% Multi-family households Note: Population count as of 1 January 2019, City of Copenhagen. Breakdown of households by marital status. Source: Statistics Denmark

The mayor of the City of Copenhagen has publicly called for the construction of more smaller units.