Inside the fight against Denmark’s ‘straight up racist’ housing law
Summary
Seven families from a Danish housing estate are challenging a law that can require nonprofit housing areas to sell or demolish homes when they meet specified population and social criteria. Denmark’s Supreme Court is expected to rule on November 23, 2026, after a European Union court said the law’s “non-Western” category could amount to ethnic discrimination; Danish judges must decide whether it does.Key Facts
- The seven families lived at the Nøjsomhed estate in Helsingør, which was placed on a government list in January 2020.
- The families say they were forced from their homes because of their own or their parents’ origins.
- The 2018 law applies to nonprofit housing areas with at least 1,000 residents, more than half classified as “non-Western,” and at least two of four measures involving unemployment, crime, education, and income.
- Areas that remain on the list for five consecutive years must reduce nonprofit family housing to 40 percent by 2030 through sales, demolition, or conversion.
- A European Union court ruled in December that the “non-Western” classification could amount to ethnic discrimination and left the decision to Danish courts.
- Lower Danish courts ruled against the families, finding that “non-Western” does not describe an ethnic group.
- The Supreme Court’s decision on whether the criterion is neutral could affect other housing estates on the government lists.
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