172 newly built homes are riddled with serious structural defects, and the company behind the Amager Fælled development has posted a loss of DKK 232.9 million. The fallout from a contractor’s bankruptcy has proven far more damaging than initially admitted.
The numbers are stark. Fælledby P/S, the company developing the Fælledby neighbourhood on Amager Fælled in Copenhagen, closed 2025 with a loss of DKK 232.9 million — a figure that exceeds both the previous year’s results and the company’s own projections. The primary cause is the collapse of contractor Scandi Byg in January 2025, which has left hundreds of newly completed homes with what the company’s own annual report describes as “serious defects” requiring “massive reinforcement projects” before they can be occupied.
A Reassurance That Did Not Hold
When Scandi Byg filed for bankruptcy at the start of 2025, Fælledby P/S moved quickly to reassure stakeholders. “It is important to emphasise that the bankruptcy does not, in overall terms, have any significance for the project company and the processes at Fælledby,” the company stated in a press release at the time.
That assessment has not aged well. In the months that followed, inspections of the two building plots handled by Scandi Byg revealed a catalogue of problems spanning design, the manufacture of modular units and on-site assembly.
“Since the bankruptcy, it has continuously emerged that Scandi Byg’s constructions contain a large number of defects and shortcomings, including very serious defects in both the engineering, the execution of the modules and the assembly work on site.”
— Fælledby P/S Annual Report 2025
Undersized Structures
The structural problems are not cosmetic. According to the report, Scandi Byg’s engineers undersized load-bearing elements for both vertical and horizontal loads — a fundamental engineering failure that now demands significant remediation work across the affected buildings.
The full extent of the required reinforcements remains unclear. “It is still unresolved to what degree the existing construction must be reinforced. In any case, there will be massive reinforcement projects,” the report notes, adding that the costs are reflected in both expenditure already incurred and the projected final costs for the two developments.
DKK 182 Million Written Down
The financial consequences have been direct. Fælledby P/S has written down the value of the two affected building plots by approximately DKK 182 million. What were intended to be revenue-generating assets — through sales and rentals — have instead become a principal driver of the annual loss. Rising property taxes have added a further DKK 26 million in provisions.
The annual report also flags a more fundamental uncertainty: the final cost of completing the ongoing construction works remains unknown, meaning the valuation of the projects carries what the company describes as “increased risk.”
Recovery Expected — Eventually
Despite the scale of the setbacks, Fælledby P/S expresses confidence that the financial picture will improve. The company anticipates that income from sales and rentals will begin to materialise during 2026, and states that the vast majority of homes in the two affected plots have already been sold or let. Full sellout is expected by the end of 2026. The company also states that sufficient funds have been set aside to complete the two problem-hit developments without the need for further provisions.
Whether that optimism proves well-founded will depend on how the reinforcement works progress — and whether any further problems emerge from buildings that were, not long ago, being presented to buyers and tenants as finished homes.
