Summer-house landscape on the west coast of Jutland in Denmark. Photo: Dieter Betz, SCANPIX
Denmark experienced its main summer cottage 'boom' in the 1960s. Until the early 1950s, the number of summer cottages was limited, and those that did exist were predominantly owned by people from the wealthier sections of society. The majority of summer cottages were, moreover, localised within travelling distance from Copenhagen, though every provincial town had, and today retains, its own area situated along the most attractive costal stretches.
During the 1960s through to the beginning of the 1970s, when the private ownership of cars became commonplace and the prosperity of the population in general increased, the number of cottages rose dramatically. For the most part these 'new' cottages where constructed as small wooden houses with only very basic amenities.
Today approximately half of Denmark's 200,000 summer cottages are situated in the Eastern part of the country, in the hinterland of Copenhagen. The Western coast of Jutland is however another important resort area.
The character of the areas designated for summer cottages reflects the fact that Denmark is densely populated as compared to the other Nordic Countries. This means that these areas are often heavily utilised and have a layout similar to areas with single family houses. — see map illustrations – Despite this similarity however, many such areas retain a rather more 'rustic' character with unpaved roads and with specific vegetation often very different from the naturally occurring local types, typically coniferous trees and Rosa Rogusa.
A 30-year breathing space
In 1977 a new national planning regulation was enacted in response to the booming growth of second homes witnessed since the 1960s. The regulation essentially prohibited further summer cottage developments in the coastal zone.
At that time it was foreseen that if the trend continued the coastline and coastal landscape would, in future, be totally dominated by summer cottages. The 1977 regulation can however also be seen as an early precursor of the EU Coastal Zone Directive and thus as a forerunner of the general drive towards integrated coastal zone management. The regulation was strictly enforced up to 2004 when minor new developments again became possible.
Since the early 2000s the price of summer cottages has more than doubled while many of the simple 1960s wooden cottages have been replaced by luxury houses suited to permanent habitation.
These price rises could be explained by the general trend in the property market which has seen permanently rising prices since late 1990s but also by the fact that the number of summer cottages has been fixed while the number of households, due to demographic changes, has grown.
Living permanently in your cottage, or not?
During the intervening decades public debate on summer cottages has re-emerged several times where the question of living permanently in these ostensibly 'summer' cottages remains a perennial one. According to Danish law it is illegal to use your cottage for other than recreational purposes. The municipal authorities have some level of discretion in implementing this rule though their ability to do so remains quite limited.
Moreover, the fact that many of the traditional 'summer cottage' areas are now situated quite close to large urban areas puts significant pressure on both the municipalities and their citizens in respect of the conversion of summer cottages into normal single family houses.
The rationale for this regulation, in part, concerns the general planning objective which states that urban sprawl should be avoided, and partly also due to the specific Danish protocol to EU membership that prohibits foreign citizens from buying and owning summer cottages in Denmark. If, however, summer cottages can be used as permanent homes no reason remains it is argued by some for retaining the protocol.
Another aspect of the discussion concerns whether pensioners should have the right to use their cottages as permanent homes. This question has frequently been put forward in the context of the ongoing political debate. In 1992 rules giving pensioner's the right to live permanently in their summer cottages were introduced. These rules have, moreover, been loosened and amended a number of times since then.
The municipalities have, moreover, maintained a rather ambiguous attitude on the question of pensioner's rights throughout this period. On the one hand, these 'summer cottage' areas could be viewed as potential urban areas and as harbouring the potential to attract more citizens to the municipality, while on the other, pensioners living permanently in their summer cottages may, potentially, see the municipality incurring a significant level of extra costs in relation to the supply of public services.
The municipalities retain responsibility for the question of whether summer cottages are used as permanent homes and, in addition, for the drawing up of an annual report for the Minister of the Environment. The latest reports show that, in total, some 17 000 cottages out of a total of more than 200 000 are currently used as permanent homes. Approximately half of these are used by pensioners.
Only 5 000 new houses?
Another question emerging from the public debate is whether the 1977 restrictions on new cottage building should be liberalized. This question has often been raised by peripherally situated municipalities. The argument here being that new summer cottages could impact the local and regional economy in a positive manner.
In 2004 an amendment to the Planning Law gave the Minister of the Environment the ability to grant 8,000 new plots for summer cottages. Hereafter a process followed where the Minister asked for proposals from the municipal level. A number of conditions had however to be respected by the municipalities if they wanted to gain access to the new building permits.
After a period of negotiation and a public hearing in 2005 the Minister proposed a new national planning regulation which enabled a total of 5,000 new summer cottages to be constructed in 33 different municipalities.
The public hearing however demonstrated the antagonistic level of public attitudes to the question. The National Society for Nature Conservation argued that the ban on new cottage construction should be continued, noting that vast tracts of the coastal zone had already been occupied by summer cottages and that the provision for new areas would compromise a common Danish natural and recreational resource.
On the other hand a number of municipalities expressed their discontent with the conditions which followed on from the 2004 amendment stating that new cottages should be located behind existing cottages along the coastline and that no protected areas could be used for new cottages. A third condition, which was in fact ignored in many of the proposals from the municipalities, was that the local or regional economic impact of new cottages should be documented.
It can however be concluded that due in the main to the robust nature of Danish planning instruments utilised and to the general level of political will encountered at the national level designed to preserve the coastal zone, that it did – from the 1970s to the beginning of the 21st century - prove possible to preserve the Danish coastline from further demolition even in areas close to densely populated and urbanised zones.
A precondition for development in the coastal zone undoubtedly then remains the need for strong and centralised government regulation overseen by the Ministry of the Environment. Between 1974 and 2007, the previous counties had responsibility for regional planning and, in addition, formal responsibility for planning in the coastal zone. Even in this period however the state played a leading role in respect of the coastal zone and in Planning and other legal regulations in respect of summer cottages in Denmark: or from large entrepreneurial concerns. With the new administrative reform of 2007 formal planning responsibility for the coastal zone was assumed by the state.
Hundested, Zealand, in 1897. Map provided by www.kms.dk
Hundested, Zealand, changed into summer-house country.
This map is from 1994 and is provided by www.kms.dk
Planning and other legal regulations in respect of summer cottages in Denmark:
• The total area of Denmark was, in 1969, divided into three zones: Urban areas, areas for summer cottages and rural areas, - that means that summer cottage areas are the subject of a specific planning status
• This general planning regulation was followed by an act that prohibited the use of summer cottages except for recreational purposes
• In 1972 when Denmark entered the European Community a specific protocol was issued that allowed the country to prohibit foreign citizens from owning summer cottages in Denmark. The argumentation used at that time was that the Danish coastal zone was a very restricted resource and, as such, should be reserved for Danish citizens.
• In 1977 a national planning regulation was issued that prohibited the location of further summer cottages in coastal zones
• In 2004 a further amendment to the Planning Law gave the Minister of the Environment the ability to grant a small number of building permits for summer cottages to municipal authourities under certain guidance criteria.