Denmark’s summer house stock barely grows despite tourism demand

Denmark has seen almost no increase in its number of summer houses over the past five years, despite record-breaking demand for holiday rentals, reports DR. New figures from Statistics Denmark show just a 0.98 percent rise since 2021—frustrating local developers and tourism industry representatives.

A proposed project for 40 new summer houses near Nymindegab on the west coast has been rejected twice by the Ministry of Housing, Rural Affairs, and Churches, which deemed the area of “special landscape interest” and worth preserving. Landowner Ove Nielsen, who had hoped to allocate farmland for the development, called the decision “totally frustrating.”

“This was our chance to develop the area and bring more life to Nymindegab,” Nielsen said. “We’re being depopulated. People need a reason to stop here and stay.”

Local residents dismiss the preservation argument. Søren Rotbøl Jepsen, chair of Nymindegab’s residents’ association, criticised the ministry’s approach as “sappy romanticism,” claiming officials in Copenhagen “haven’t the faintest idea what they’re looking at on the map.” Nielsen added: “I don’t see what’s so worth preserving about a cornfield. Forty summer houses wouldn’t ruin nature here.”

Pernille Kofod Lydolph, director of the Holiday Home Rental Association, warned that the stagnation risks undermining Denmark’s tourism growth. “We talk about expanding Danish tourism, but we lack capacity. We simply need to build more summer houses,” she said, noting that a single summer house generates roughly 650,000 kroner (€87,000) in annual tourism revenue.

Overnight stays in Danish summer houses have surged by 50 percent outside peak season over the past decade, Lydolph said. Yet Anne Mette Hjalager, a tourism researcher at the University of Southern Denmark, cautioned against unrestricted coastal development. “We also have to consider nature and landscape quality,” she said. “Covering the entire coastal zone with summer houses is something the government, parliament, and many municipalities approach very cautiously.”

Hjalager highlighted growing competition for rural land, with demands from solar farms, nature conservation, and agriculture adding to the pressure. “There’s a lack of planning framework for how we actually use our rural areas and the land available outside urban zones,” she explained.

Varde Municipality is now considering a third attempt to gain approval for the Nymindegab project. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Housing, Rural Affairs, and Churches declined DR’s request for an interview. Last year saw a record 23 million overnight stays in Danish summer houses.