Copenhagen - Post Report Question and Answers
What is your housing like? What are typical housing sizes, locations, and commute times for expatriates?
It is mostly apartments with a few houses. Single people are in apartments. Families can choose. My apartment is very nice. Many apartments are within walking distance of work. Apartments do not have air conditioning and there are no screens on the windows. - Feb 2022
It can be anything from a house in the suburbs to an apartment in the city. Our apartment in the city is 3 bedroom. While it's not large, it's also not small by any means. Most people choose apartments because they tend to be walking distance to the Embassy whereas commutes to the houses are increasingly becoming over an hour on public transit. If you drive, they are about 30 minutes, but you also have to pay to park. It seems most homes have maintenance issues because Danish landlords do not believe in wear and tear and contracts do not seem to be enforced. The people I know in single family houses don't seem to like it. There are complaints that they are stuck with living with the issues or fixing them on their own dime, which is very expensive due to local labor. This is not something strictly against diplomats as a local staff have told me they're expected to paint, repair and essentially make an apartment look brand new when they move out. If you're not here with an organization and you're paying your own way, remember that Danes require a substantial security deposit (three months' rent I believe) that you shouldn't expect to get back. Also at the time of this writing, school bus service is not guaranteed, so if your house is outside of the zone that CIS provides service, you'll be on your own for getting your kids to and from school. - Jun 2021
Housing can be anything from an apartment to a single-family home. Apartments are typically within walking distance of the embassy, while housing is farther out with travel times of about 30 minutes. Most homes have issues with flooding in the basements during heavy rains. Housing assignments are hit or miss, and at times, questionable. There have been many complaints regarding the housing questionnaires not being considered when assignments are made. And then there's the issue with the landlords' lack of upkeep on the properties. - Jul 2016
People without kids live in the city it what are generally very nice two or three-bedroom apartments within minutes from the Embassy. Families live out in the suburbs if they want to be close to the school, though there are large apartments in the city if they want to live there. The biggest downside to the houses are that Danish houses rarely have more than two bathrooms even if the house has five bedrooms. Some of the houses only have 1.5 bathrooms for multiple bedrooms! - May 2014
Good size apartments in the city, near the Embassy. And decent houses in the northern suburbs. 10-20 minutes commute time. - Feb 2014
Mostly apartments in the city for singles, couples and even couples with small children. Others live in houses out near the school. Be prepared for noise in the city. You will hear your neighbors and they can hear you. The summer especially, since no A/C's are needed and everyone leaves their windows open. This also means you hear everything on the streets and in the summer people like to party late with sunset not until midnight. - Aug 2011
Embassy housing is within 15 miles of the Embassy in either apartments, townhomes or houses. Housing is furnished by the Embassy for most employees. Many employees can walk to work in less than 10 minutes, while others took as much as half an hour to drive, depending on traffic. The public transportation system is very good, so many people use buses or the train system to commute. Bicycles are also a very popular mode of transportation and have designated lanes on most roads. - Jul 2011
