Denmark's housing answer is already built. It's just standing empty.

Denmark, like many other Western-European countries, has a housing affordability problem. It has thousands of square metres of vacant hospitals, closed schools, emptied care homes, abandoned barracks and empty hotels sitting unused across the country. 

These are not problems waiting for a demolition crew. They are opportunities waiting for the right approach. 

The numbers are hard to ignore 

Denmark's total institutional building stock stands at 46 million m² : hospitals, schools, care homes and public institutions. A growing share of it is idle. 

• Hospitals: The Super Hospital Programme is reducing emergency units from 40 to 21. Researchers at the Royal Danish Academy have identified 19 hospitals set to become vacant. Holstebro Sygehus alone covers 86.000 m² and closed in 2022. Its full transformation stretches to 2040. It stands largely empty in the meantime. 

• Schools: 603 schools closed between 2007 and 2024. A survey by Lokale og Anlægsfonden found 1 in 3 closed school buildings still stands completely vacant — no buyer, no plan, no new purpose. 

• Care homes: The share of Danes aged 80+ living in care housing has fallen from 19.5% (2012) to just 13% in 2025. Care home coverage dropped in 91 out of 98 municipalities in 2024–2025, as older facilities close and transition to new models. 

•  Military barracks: The Auderød military camp covers 27.363 m² and has stood abandoned for years. New defence investments are releasing older barrack sites nationwide. 

In total, over 780.000 m² of publicly owned buildings are vacant, a figure from a survey already a decade old. The real number is almost certainly far higher. 

The paradox no one is talking about 

Between 2015 and 2024, Denmark built 253.329 new homes. Over that same period, the number of empty properties rose by 43,804 — to over 200,000 nationally. Building more alone is not solving the crisis. Putting to use what already exists needs to be done as well. 

This is what Monoma Danmark does 

At Monoma Danmark, part of the Mosaic World group, we have over 30 years of European experience turning vacant institutional buildings into safe, managed, value-generating residential spaces, while permanent plans are developed. 

In Helsingør, we transformed a vacant former care centre into 61 fully furnished youth housing studios.

An empty former hospital, school, care home or barracks is not a problem to manage. It is an opportunity to activate.