Most guidance about moving money to Europe assumes euros. For a large part of the continent that assumption is wrong, and the countries that kept their own currency are also the ones where a British buyer most often finds a door that is not open.

Two separate things are going on, and they compound. Each of these countries is its own currency decision, because a krone, a franc and a lira behave nothing alike. And since 2021 British nationals have been non-EU nationals, which in this part of Europe is not a technicality. It decides whether you need permission to buy at all.

This page covers the countries in Europe that do not use the euro and that our currency partner can transact directly: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Czechia, Hungary and Turkey. How transfers are priced in general, and the payment fraud that catches property buyers out, is in our guide to currency when moving abroad.

What Brexit changed, and where it bites

Inside the EU, a member state may not discriminate against buyers from other member states. Outside it, a state may do very much as it likes. British buyers spent nearly fifty years on the inside of that rule and have spent the last few years on the outside of it.

In most of Europe this makes no practical difference. In three of the countries on this page it makes a large one, and all three are places British buyers have traditionally liked.

Denmark

The currency. The krone is not a floating currency in any meaningful sense. Denmark holds it against the euro through ERM II at a central rate of about 7.46 kroner, inside a very narrow band, and has done so for decades. So when you buy kroner with sterling, what is actually moving is sterling against the euro. The second leg barely moves at all. If you are watching a rate for a Danish purchase, watch GBP to EUR.

Who may buy. This is the difficult part. A person who is not an EU, EEA or Swiss national, and who does not have permanent residence in Denmark, needs permission from the Danish Ministry of Justice before a purchase can be registered in the Land Register. The alternative qualifying route is five consecutive years of previous residence in Denmark.

British buyers are now in that category. Permission is obtainable and is granted routinely enough where there is a genuine connection to the country, but it is a step, it takes time, and the purchase cannot be registered without it.

Holiday homes are harder still. Denmark protects its summer house areas from outside second home demand, and the restrictions there apply even to buyers from inside the EU. If a Danish holiday cottage is the plan, take proper Danish advice before anything else, because this is the one country on this page where the answer may simply be no.

Switzerland

The currency. The franc is the strongest currency most British buyers will ever deal with, and it strengthens when the world is nervous. That is the opposite of helpful when you are buying: the times you are most likely to be moving money are the times the franc is most expensive. There is no peg to hide behind here, and the range over a twelve month period can be wide enough to change what you can afford.

Who may buy. Switzerland restricts foreign purchase of residential property under the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad, known universally as Lex Koller, which has been in force since 1983. Non-resident foreigners are generally not permitted to buy residential property at all.

Holiday homes are the exception and they are rationed. Permits are capped at roughly 1,500 across the whole country each year, allocated by canton, limited to designated tourist zones, and capped at 200 square metres of net living space per unit. This is a quota, not an application process with a likely outcome.

Holding an EU or EFTA passport with a Swiss B or C residence permit takes you outside Lex Koller entirely and you are treated as a Swiss buyer. A British passport no longer does that.

There is also live movement here. On 15 April 2026 the Swiss Federal Council opened a consultation on tightening Lex Koller further, with the consultation period running to 15 July 2026. The proposals would bring the acquisition of residential property by non-EU and non-EFTA nationals within the permit requirement and restrict holiday apartments further. Anyone considering Switzerland should establish where that has landed before committing, because the answer may have changed since this page was written.

Sweden and Norway

The currencies. Both float, and both are thinner markets than sterling or the euro, which means wider spreads and more movement on any given day. The Norwegian krone carries an additional characteristic worth knowing: it has historically tracked the oil price, so it can move for reasons that have nothing to do with anything happening in Britain or Norway.

The practical effect of a thinner market is that the gap between a good rate and a poor one is wider than it would be on a major pair. On sterling to dollars, every provider is close to every other. On sterling to krone, they are not, and comparing is worth more.

Who may buy. Neither Sweden nor Norway restricts foreign ownership of residential property in the way Denmark and Switzerland do. Buying is largely a question of financing and paperwork rather than permission, which makes both countries considerably simpler than their neighbours.

Czechia and Hungary

The currencies. The Czech koruna and the Hungarian forint both float. The forint has historically been the more volatile of the two and carries higher domestic inflation, which matters if there is a long gap between agreeing a price and paying it.

Hungary. Non-EU and non-EEA buyers, which now includes British nationals, need a government permit before a property can be registered in their name at the Land Registry. It generally takes around two to four weeks, though it varies by municipality. Agricultural and forestry land is a separate matter and is generally not available to foreign buyers at all.

Two to four weeks is short enough to be manageable and long enough to matter if your rate is not fixed. It is a good example of why the currency decision and the legal timetable are the same conversation.

Czechia. The koruna side is straightforward. On the ownership side, we have not been able to verify the current position for non-EU buyers to the standard we would want before putting a number or a rule on this page, and the position changed for British nationals after Brexit. Take Czech legal advice on whether any permission applies to you before you commit to a purchase. We would rather say that than guess.

Turkey

Turkey is the outlier on this page in every respect.

The currency. The lira has lost value against sterling steadily and substantially over a period of years, driven by high domestic inflation. That changes the arithmetic in a way worth understanding rather than celebrating.

A currency that is falling makes a purchase cheaper in sterling the longer you wait, which sounds like an argument for waiting. It is not quite, for two reasons. Property prices in Turkey are quoted in lira and rise with inflation, so some of what you gain on the rate you lose on the price. And a forward contract on a high inflation currency is priced with the interest rate difference built in, so the forward rate will already be worse than today's rate rather than better. Fixing forward on the lira is buying certainty at a visible cost, not getting something for nothing.

For most people the honest answer is that if you have agreed a price and a date, certainty is still worth paying for. Just understand what you are paying.

Who may buy. Turkey is open by comparison with Denmark or Switzerland. Foreigners buy in their own name with close to the same rights as Turkish citizens, and the old reciprocity requirement is gone.

The limits are specific rather than general. An individual foreign buyer may not own more than 30 hectares of land. Foreign ownership may not exceed 10% of the total private land area of any one district, which can and does close particular districts to further foreign purchases. Military and security zones are closed entirely, and this is not always obvious from a listing.

Turkey also grants citizenship for a property purchase of at least US$400,000, with a restriction registered on the title deed preventing resale for three years. Note the currency of that threshold: it is set in dollars, not lira, so a falling lira does not make it easier to reach.

Common questions

Do I need permission to buy as a British citizen?

In Denmark and Hungary, yes. Denmark requires Ministry of Justice permission unless you hold permanent residence or have lived there five consecutive years. Hungary requires a government permit before registration, usually two to four weeks. Switzerland largely prohibits non-resident foreign purchase of residential property altogether. Sweden, Norway and Turkey do not require permission in the same way.

Why does the Danish krone barely move against the euro?

Because Denmark holds it there deliberately, through ERM II, at a central rate of about 7.46 to the euro within a narrow band. For a British buyer that means the risk sits almost entirely in sterling against the euro.

Can I buy a holiday home in Switzerland?

Only within a quota of roughly 1,500 permits a year nationally, in designated tourist zones, capped at 200 square metres of net living space. Treat it as rationed rather than as an application with a likely outcome, and check the position now, because a consultation on tightening the rules ran until July 2026.

Is a falling currency good news if I am buying there?

Partly. It buys more of the local currency, but local prices generally rise with the inflation that caused the fall, and a forward contract prices the difference in. You cannot borrow a falling currency's weakness for free.

Why is the spread worse on krone than on dollars?

Volume. Sterling to dollars is one of the most traded pairs in the world and everyone quotes close to everyone else. Sterling to Swedish or Norwegian krone is a much thinner market, so the difference between providers is wider, and comparing is worth more than it is on a major pair.

Which of these countries can you send money to?

All seven named here can be transacted directly in the local currency, rather than sent in euros or dollars and converted at the far end.

Next steps

On this page, the legal position comes first rather than the rate. In Denmark, Switzerland and Hungary, whether you may buy at all, and how long permission takes, sets the timetable that everything else hangs on. Once you have a sum and a date, the rate takes an afternoon.

Figures and rules on this page were checked in September 2026. The Swiss position in particular was under active consultation at that date. Primary sources are the Danish Ministry of Justice, the Swiss Federal Council and the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad, the Hungarian Land Registry rules and the Turkish Directorate General of Land Registry and Cadastre. Nothing here is legal or tax advice, and every one of these countries is one to take local advice in before committing.

The move itself, and how it travels, is covered on our international moving services page.