Can Foreigners Buy Property in the Faroe Islands? A Practical Guide

Until 2021 there were no rules stopping a foreign national from buying land or a home in the Faroes. Local authorities, especially on the outer islands, were worried about outside investors pricing residents out, and the Faroese parliament responded with a law requiring buyers to show a connection to the Danish Kingdom.

The central test, as reported at the time, is five years of total residence within the Kingdom of Denmark, which covers Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Meet that and you can buy without special permission. Fall short and you need approval from the Faroese authorities. The rule applies to companies as well as individuals, which closes the obvious workaround of buying through a foreign vehicle.

Danish citizens and residents are not treated as foreigners, because the Home Rule arrangement does not allow discrimination between people of the Kingdom. That is why the law is framed around the Kingdom rather than around the islands alone.

The law may have been amended since we last checked, so confirm the current wording with the Faroese authorities or a local lawyer before you rely on it.

Applying for permission is possible, but you should expect it to be case-by-case. Practical grounds that a reasonable authority would weigh include a firm plan to move and live there, marriage or family ties, an employment contract, or a business need. A purely speculative purchase or a holiday-home plan in a village with housing pressure is the weakest kind of application.

What to prepare: identification, proof of your tie to the islands, a signed purchase agreement made conditional on permission, a statement of intended use, and a translation where documents are not in Danish, Faroese or English. Make the sale conditional, so you are not obliged to complete if permission is refused.

Processing times are not something we can promise. Build in extra weeks, and keep the seller informed so they do not accept a competing offer.

1. Find the property. Homes are marketed through local agents and online portals, and many sales happen quietly by word of mouth.
2. Make an offer. Faroese practice follows Danish customs: a written offer, accepted by the seller, followed by a formal purchase agreement.
3. Get a building survey. Wind, rain and salt are hard on timber, roofs and paint. A technical inspection is money well spent.
4. Check the land register. Your lawyer confirms ownership, mortgages and rights of way. Faroese land has a distinctive history of shared outfield and infield rights, so ask about them.
5. Obtain permission if needed. See above.
6. Sign, pay and register. The deed is lodged at the court registry, and stamp duty and registration fees are paid.

Currency is the Faroese króna, which is on par with and pegged to the Danish krone. Both circulate.

We could not verify exact rates, so use these as questions for your lawyer rather than quotes.

Weather decides most of the maintenance budget. Expect repainting cycles, roof and gutter work, and heating costs through long winters. Remote villages may be reached by tunnel, ferry or helicopter, and subsea tunnels now link a growing number of islands, but travel times still shape how often you can use a second home. Ask the municipality about planned infrastructure.

For financing, local banks will lend to residents more readily than to non-resident foreigners, and you should check conditions on our Faroe Islands financing page before assuming a mortgage is possible. Our cheap properties and under-100k pages show whether any inventory exists at lower price points.

• Signing an unconditional contract before checking whether you need permission.
• Buying through a foreign company to avoid the rule, which the law was written to prevent.
• Skipping a survey on an old timber house.
• Assuming a holiday-home plan will be approved on a small island where residents struggle to find housing.
• Forgetting the cost of getting materials and tradespeople to a remote site.

If the Faroes prove too restrictive, other markets with open rules are compared in the consultation index and the cities directory.