# Danish TV show speaks of "allotments" in a way that sounds like vacation homes... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740 "2011-04-17T18:26:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/1 "2011-04-17T18:26:20Z")
In that people who live in location A speak of going to their house in the “allotments”. Like…some kind of socialist deal where they are allotted a second home? Anyone able to clarify? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/2 "2011-04-17T18:34:39Z")
A small garden plot where urban apartment dwellers raise vegetables and flowers. Sometimes the toolsheds or huts grow to become [actual summer homes.](http://www.lifeiscarbon.com/weblog/2006/11/alotment_garden.html) ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/3 "2011-04-17T20:17:29Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > In that people who live in location A speak of going to their house in the “allotments”. My WAG is something like ‘time share’ vacation home. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/4 "2011-04-17T20:24:58Z")
They’re in the countryside not too far from the city, and yes, they enable city-dwellers to grow fruit and veg, like traditional allotments, but they’re mainly intended as a holiday home. They’re surprisingly cheap to buy. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/5 "2011-04-17T20:37:29Z")
And I only know this because of a bloke on another messageboard who bought one. He said it cost him £50 and a night of camping out to get on the list and they came up within year, sooner than they were expecting; a 300sqm plot with a full-equipped house (kitchen, bathroom, gas heating) cost £9000/£18,000. Google Kolonihave for pics and info in Danish. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/6 "2011-04-17T21:21:47Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > They’re surprisingly cheap to buy. …but I believe the waiting lists can be pretty dang long. (That’s certainly the case here in Norway.) There are rules about what you can build on the allotment, and the vacation home/cabin will have to be pretty small and basic. Still, the price is right and the locations are usually excellent. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/7 "2011-04-17T21:59:53Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > They’re in the countryside not too far from the city, and yes, they enable city-dwellers to grow fruit and veg, like traditional allotments, but they’re mainly intended as a holiday home. They’re surprisingly cheap to buy. They’re not in the countryside; they’re in the city. At least, that’s been my experience with the allotments I’ve visited or passed by in London and Frankfurt. And the “traditional” vegetable-growing allotments you speak of are very much the norm around here; I haven’t seen any plot big enough to live on, and in any case the rental contracts tend to prohibit any activity not directly related to growing vegetables. My friends have allotments, and they’re not even allowed to grow more than a certain amount of flowers. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/8 "2011-04-17T22:23:02Z")
Here is some information about [Danish Allotments](http://sustainablecities.dk/en/city-projects/cases/aarhus-allotments-more-popular-than-ever). As you see people are allowed to live in the houses during the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/9 "2011-04-17T23:03:58Z")
Sound similar to out [allotment gardens](http://torontoist.com/2007/05/secret_gardens.php). These are often located in city parks. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/10 "2011-04-17T23:31:09Z")
Allotment gardens sound like a very cool idea. Apparently they’re common in England and the European continent. Wait…isn’t there a certain rust-belt city in the upper midwestern U.S. with loads of abandoned home lots and industrial sites where something like this might fit right in? Nah…too “socialistic”. It’d never fly here in the land of the free… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/11 "2011-04-17T23:41:41Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Sound similar to out [allotment gardens](http://torontoist.com/2007/05/secret_gardens.php). These are often located in city parks. And I think these resemble what are called [community gardens](http://www.communitygarden.org/) in the US. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/12 "2011-04-17T23:41:50Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Sound similar to out [allotment gardens](http://torontoist.com/2007/05/secret_gardens.php). These are often located in city parks. No - they’re very different. The Danish allotments are holiday homes with land to garden on, and they’re outside the city, rather than vegetable patches inside the city. We have those vegetable patch allotments in England too, though sadly most of them where I live in East London have been paved over for Olympic Games facilities. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danish-tv-show-speaks-of-allotments-in-a-way-that-sounds-like-vacation-homes/578740/13 "2011-04-17T23:48:28Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > They’re not in the countryside; they’re in the city. At least, that’s been my experience with the allotments I’ve visited or passed by in London and Frankfurt. And the “traditional” vegetable-growing allotments you speak of are very much the norm around here; I haven’t seen any plot big enough to live on, and in any case the rental contracts tend to prohibit any activity not directly related to growing vegetables. My friends have allotments, and they’re not even allowed to grow more than a certain amount of flowers. I know what allotments are like in England, but we’re talking about Denmark. Their allotments are different beasts altogether.