What does it cost to register a title deed?
On a change of ownership of real property, registered with the title deed (skøde), the registration duty is 1,850 kr as a flat duty plus 0.6% of the assessment base, which in an ordinary sale is the purchase price.
A quick example: if the home costs 3,000,000 kr, 0.6% of that is 18,000 kr. Add the flat duty and you're at 19,850 kr for the title deed alone.
In special cases, the assessment base can be something other than the agreed purchase price, for example in family transfers or other transactions that aren't ordinary sales. If you're unsure of the base, get it confirmed specifically before you calculate further from it.
The rounding rule that is easy to get wrong
The percentage part is rounded up to the nearest amount divisible by 100. And this happens before the flat duty is added, not after.
It sounds like a detail, and it is, right up until someone calculates it the wrong way round and wonders why the bank's figure doesn't match their own.
| Step | Purchase price 2,175,000 kr |
|---|---|
| 0.6% of the purchase price | 13,050 kr |
| Rounded up to the nearest 100 | 13,100 kr |
| Flat duty added | + 1,850 kr |
| Total duty on the title deed | 14,950 kr |
Had you added first and rounded afterwards, you'd have landed somewhere else. The order matters.
The bill doesn't stop at the title deed
This is the part that surprises most people. The title deed is the first document that needs registering. If you take out a mortgage loan or a bank loan secured against the home, the mortgage deed also has to be registered, and it carries its own duty.
For mortgages against real property and against shares in housing co-operatives (andelsbolig), the variable duty is 1.25% plus a flat duty of 1,825 kr.
The rate was cut from 1.45% to 1.25% on 1 January 2026, so if you buy this year you pay less in mortgage duty than someone who bought the same house last autumn. On a loan of 2,400,000 kr, the difference is 4,800 kr.
A combined worked example
A house at 3,000,000 kr, a mortgage loan at 80% of the price, that is, 2,400,000 kr.
| Item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Title deed duty, variable | 0.6% of 3,000,000 kr | 18,000 kr |
| Title deed duty, flat | Flat rate | 1,850 kr |
| Mortgage deed duty, variable | 1.25% of 2,400,000 kr | 30,000 kr |
| Mortgage deed duty, flat | Flat rate | 1,825 kr |
| Total registration duty | 51,675 kr |
Notice the split. The duty on the loan is bigger than the duty on the house purchase itself, and it's the item people rarely include when they're adding things up before a bidding round. The other costs in a purchase, agent's commission, lawyer, change-of-ownership insurance and the rest, are covered in the full breakdown of what a home purchase costs in 2026.
Who pays, buyer or seller?
The buyer typically pays the duty on the title deed.
When registering a change of ownership, buyer and seller are jointly and severally liable for the duty. The purchase agreement can allocate the cost between you, and it usually does, but that allocation only applies between the parties. It doesn't change the authority's right to claim the duty from either party liable for it.
In practice, most people never notice the difference, because the duty gets paid as part of the deal. But it means that "the purchase agreement says the other party pays" isn't full protection if a claim is raised later. It's therefore worth having the split written down clearly, not left implied.
The duty itself is fixed, but who pays it can be agreed in the purchase agreement.
Can you register the deed yourself?
Yes. Registration happens digitally on tinglysning.dk (the Danish land registration site), and you can sign with MitID. There's no legal requirement for a lawyer to do it for you.
Most people still choose to let a lawyer or a conveyancing service handle it. My view: the value is in someone being responsible for the document saying the right thing, because a title deed with an error is markedly more troublesome to fix afterwards than getting it right from the start. If you're only registering a simple amendment, that's a different matter from a full transaction.
How to use the figure before you bid
- Count both duties, not just the title deed. With a loan, the mortgage duty is typically the bigger of the two.
- Use the right order: percentage first, round up to the nearest 100, then add the flat duty.
- Check the rate on the document itself if the deal has been in progress across the New Year.
- Get the split written into the purchase agreement instead of assuming it.
- Add the duty on top of the other transaction costs before you decide your bid, not after. It's the kind of item that ends up in the review of costs the listing doesn't show.
- Buying a housing co-operative share? The mortgage duty applies there too, but the rest of the finances work differently. That's covered in the guide to housing co-operatives (andelsbolig).
In short
Ask what registering the title deed costs, what registering the mortgage costs, and which of you is down in the purchase agreement as paying what.
The duty is the same on every home. The choice of home is yours.
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Compare three homes, 599 krFrequently asked questions
What does it cost to register a title deed?
A flat duty of 1,850 kr plus a variable duty of 0.6% of the assessment base, typically the purchase price. The percentage part is rounded up to the nearest amount divisible by 100 before the flat duty is added.
How much do I pay in registration duty on a purchase of 3 million?
0.6% of 3,000,000 kr is 18,000 kr, plus the flat duty of 1,850 kr, totalling 19,850 kr for the title deed. If you're also taking out a mortgage loan, the duty on the mortgage deed comes on top.
Who pays the registration duty, the buyer or the seller?
When registering a change of ownership, the buyer and seller are jointly and severally liable for the duty to the authority. The purchase agreement can allocate the cost between the parties, and in practice the buyer usually bears it, but the agreement doesn't change the authority's right to claim the duty from either party.
Is there also a duty on the mortgage deed?
Yes. When registering a mortgage against real property and against shares in housing co-operatives (andelsbolig), the variable duty is 1.25% plus a flat duty of 1,825 kr. The rate was cut from 1.45% to 1.25% as of 1 January 2026.
How does the rounding rule work?
The variable percentage duty is rounded up to the nearest amount divisible by 100. Only after that is the flat duty added. If you calculate it the other way round, adding first and rounding afterwards, you get the wrong figure.
Can you register a title deed yourself?
Yes. Registration happens digitally on tinglysning.dk (the Danish land registration site), and you can sign with MitID. Many people still choose to let a lawyer or a conveyancing service handle it, because mistakes in a title deed are troublesome to fix afterwards.
When is the registration duty due?
The duty falls due at the time the document is actually registered. It therefore becomes part of the transaction costs around completion, not a bill that arrives months later.
Did registration get cheaper in 2026?
For mortgages, yes. The variable duty on mortgages against real property and housing co-operatives (andelsbolig) fell from 1.45% to 1.25% as of 1 January 2026. The duty on the title deed itself, 0.6% plus 1,850 kr, was not changed.
This is general information, not legal advice for your specific case. Rules, rates and practice can change, and your case may differ from the typical one. If in doubt about your own situation, ask a lawyer before acting.
