Mortgage rules in Norway: deposit, stress test and borrowing limits
By Kalkulatorbanken · Last updated
Figures and rules are for 2026 and checked against the sources at the bottom of the page. Norwegian version of this guide.
Norwegian banks follow a lending regulation (utlånsforskriften) with three main rules for home loans: a deposit of at least 10% (loan up to 90% of the value), total debt of at most 5 times your annual income, and a budget that survives an interest rate of at least 7%. The strictest one decides how much you can borrow, and it is rarely the five-times rule people quote.
Prefer to run your own numbers? Open the How Much Can I Borrow for a Mortgage in Norway?.
In short
- The loan can be up to 90% of the value, so you need at least 10% in cash. The costs of buying come on top.
- The stress test adds 3 percentage points to your rate, but the bank must use at least 7%. It applies to all your debt.
- The regulation has applied since 31 December 2024 in its current form and has no end date. Banks may make exceptions for a small share of loans each quarter, but you have no right to one.
- Foreign banks operating in Norway are covered too, and tax-exempt income can count towards the debt ratio if it is documented and stable.
The three rules, and the strictest one decides
The Lending Regulations are issued by the Ministry of Finance and apply to banks' lending to consumers. An official English translation is on Lovdata. The rules apply at the same time, so the one that gives the lowest loan is the one that binds.
| Requirement | Section | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Loan-to-value | 7 | Instalment loans at most 90% of the value, interest-only credit lines at most 60% |
| Debt ratio | 6 | Total debt at most 5 times annual income |
| Debt servicing | 5 | Enough left for normal living costs at 3 percentage points higher rate, and at least 7% |
| Repayments | 9 | Annual repayments required above 60% loan-to-value |
| Flexibility | 12 | Up to 10% of new home loans per quarter (Oslo 8%) |
Because the rules bind in different ways, the cure depends on which one binds: more income does not fix a deposit problem, and more deposit does not fix a budget that fails the stress test. Chapter 3 applies to holiday homes as well as primary homes, and the regulation draws no distinction between them.
The deposit: ten percent, but of what?
At the time of granting, an instalment loan secured on a home may not exceed 90%of the property's appraised value, which cannot be higher than its prudently assessed market value. If you pay more than the bank's valuation, the difference comes out of your own pocket. All loans secured on the home count, including your share of the common debt in a housing cooperative.
The deposit requirement does not include the costs of buying. Stamp duty (2.5% on freehold) and registration fees are paid from your savings, so you need 10% of the value plus the costs. The guide to the costs of buying lists them.
Repayments above 60 percent
If the loan exceeds 60% of the value, the bank must require annual repayments of at least the lower of 2.5% of the loan and what a 30-year annuity loan would require. On NOK 3,600,000, 2.5% is NOK 90,000 a year and the first-year repayment on a 30-year annuity at 5.5% is NOK 48,495, so the requirement is NOK 48,495 a year.
The stress test: the rate the bank uses
The bank must check that you will have enough left for normal living costs if the interest rate on all your debt rises by 3 percentage points, and it must use a rate of at least 7% whatever your actual rate is. For a rate of 4% or lower, the test rate is 7%. For fixed-rate loans, the rise is applied to the balance outstanding at the end of the fixed-rate period. Credit lines count as fully used.
| Your rate | Tested at | Payment now | Payment in the test |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3% | 7% | NOK 12,648 | NOK 19,959 |
| 4% | 7% | NOK 14,322 | NOK 19,959 |
| 5.5% | 8.5% | NOK 17,034 | NOK 23,067 |
| 7% | 10% | NOK 19,959 | NOK 26,327 |
The test is a limit on what the bank may lend, not a bill. You pay the payment at your actual rate. The mortgage stress test calculator runs it for your own loan.
The debt ratio: five times income
The bank must not grant a loan if your total debt exceeds five times your annual income. Annual income means personal income as defined in the Taxation Act, or alternatively ordinary income before the standard deduction and personal allowance. Tax-exempt income can also count if it is documented and stable over time. The rule looks at size only, not at the interest rate, so you can meet it and still fail the stress test, especially with several small, high-interest loans.
Which rule stops a couple?
Worked example: a couple with a student loan
Two borrowers have gross incomes of NOK 520,000 and NOK 430,000, together NOK 950,000, a NOK 250,000 student loan and NOK 700,000 in savings. Assumptions, not rates: 5.5% interest, a 30-year term, NOK 24,000 a month for living costs and NOK 4,000 for housing costs.
| Requirement | Highest price | Above the strictest |
|---|---|---|
| Debt servicing (section 5) | NOK 4,770,284 | Binds |
| Debt ratio (section 6) | NOK 5,073,171 | NOK 302,886 |
| Deposit (section 7) | NOK 5,600,000 | NOK 829,716 |
The stress test binds. A rate of 5.5% is tested at 8.5%. After tax, living costs and housing costs the couple has NOK 34,136 a month, which supports NOK 4,439,542 of debt at the test rate and a top price of NOK 4,770,284. The minimum deposit is then NOK 597,368, which is ten percent plus the costs. At the test rate the payment would be NOK 34,136 a month, but in reality they pay NOK 25,207. Their debt is 4.7 times income, so the five-times limit is not what stops them.
| Change | Higher top price |
|---|---|
| NOK 100,000 more deposit | NOK 97,561 |
| NOK 100,000 less other debt | NOK 97,561 |
| NOK 1,000 lower living costs a month | NOK 126,882 |
| NOK 100,000 more gross income | NOK 702,078 |
When the budget binds, savings and paid-off debt raise the price by roughly the same amount, NOK for NOK, while income and living costs count much more. Try your own figures in the borrowing calculator and the mortgage calculator.
Exceptions, refinancing and the expat angle
A bank may grant loans that break one or more of the requirements in sections 5, 6, 7 and 9 for up to 10% of the value of its new home loans each quarter. In Oslo the limit is 8%of the value, or up to NOK 15 million. The quota is the bank's own: it must set guidelines, and you cannot demand an exception. A loan can also be replaced by a new one that does not meet the rules, if the new loan is no larger, has the same or a stricter repayment requirement, and no longer term (section 10).
What this means if you are new to Norway
- The regulation also covers foreign financial institutions that operate in Norway, so a branch of a foreign bank follows the same rules.
- Interest on loans is deductible in the tax return, and the Tax Administration lists loans you have outside Norway among those that qualify. The tax value of the deduction is the 22% rate on ordinary income.
- If you are under 34 and do not own a home, BSU lets you save up to NOK 27,500 a year (maximum NOK 300,000) with a tax deduction. See the BSU calculator.
Calculate with your own numbers
How Much Can I Borrow for a Mortgage in Norway? uses the 2026 rates and shows the working step by step. It takes under a minute. You do not need to log in or have BankID, and what you type stays in your browser.
See how much you can borrow →