Climate impacts force fewer Danes to buy a house near the sea – A greener life, a greener world

By Anders Lorenzen

With its highest elevation at 170 metres above sea level, Denmark is one of the lowest-lying countries in Europe, and so the Scandinavian country is especially vulnerable to climate impacts such as sea level rises.

In a survey carried out by YouGov for Denmark’s largest real estate agent, Home, the number of Danes seeking to live near the coast has been dwindling due to the climate crisis and, as a result, climate impacts have accelerated – and few places is that felt as much as in the housing market.

Currently, the Danish groundwater level is 40 centimetres (cm) higher than a year ago, with experts predicting a wet autumn which is causing homeowners to worry. Many have unhappy memories of the autumn of 2023 when winter storms caused ocean and fjords to flood homes.

Diminishing appeal to live near water

As a direct impact the desire to live near water with an ocean view and a nearby beach, while still enjoying a relatively large attraction, is dwindling. 

10,000 Danish homeowners have over the course of the last five years taken part in the YouGov survey. The 2024 report of Home Moving House Indicator says that 19.3% of those polled said that living near the sea, fjord, lake and so on is among their three most important criteria when selecting the location of their new home. The YouGov data indicates this is far less than previously with a drop of 5% compared with a similar survey carried out in 2021.

Henrik Hauthorn Jensen, a real estate analyst at Home, has not been surprised about the results of the survey, saying: “It would be strange if this is not the direction of travel.”

He further explains: “After the impacts of flooding we witnessed last winter with storm surge, storm, snow, rain and the increasing groundwater levels, buyers are more aware now that water is not only a neighbour but a risk that can cause damage in their homes”.

Home believes that the worry about such impacts means that more buyers now seek a home where there is insurance against flooding.