In Skagen, Samsø, or Blåvand, more than one in three detached houses is now owned by people who live in another municipality and often use it as a summer house.
This can affect the municipalities financially and harm the locals, says Kasper Friis Bavnbæk, a postdoc at the Center for Rural Research at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU).
- It may be that a little extra is bought in the shops and an ice cream at the harbor. But in terms of the local economy and contributing to tax revenue, the math doesn't add up, he says.
The explanation is that municipalities miss out on income tax, labor, and have fewer children in schools and daycare centers if many detached houses are used as summer houses. Owners of holiday homes wear down roads and, for example, are entitled to home care, but only pay property tax in the municipality where the holiday home is located, the researcher explains.
All tax from income and from revenue if the house is rented out, on the other hand, goes to the municipality where people have their registered address.
Fie Kastor is a resident of Skagen and tells here how locals are affected when many detached houses in Skagen are used as summer houses
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Tax for popular holiday areas
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In 28 postal codes, at least every fifth detached house is now owned by people living in other municipalities, DR's analysis of ownership in public registers shows. At Christiansborg, the government wants to look at how municipalities with many holiday homes can get more tax revenue.
The government platform states that a new equalization reform must be created, distributing all tax revenue among the country's municipalities. Here, municipalities with many holiday homes should also receive tax from the owners.
We have just gotten new property value taxes. The phasing in of that system didn't go super well. Couldn't this create new major tax chaos?
- The ambition is about ensuring that there is more fairness in our society. That is, that people also contribute where they stay. And today there is a challenge with many Danes who live in a municipality where they have their address. But then they spend a large part of their time somewhere else, and then they don't contribute to the local economy, says Bjørn Brandenburg, the rural district spokesperson for the Social Democrats.
He says that it is about all municipalities in Denmark being able to provide proper welfare. Here, several rural municipalities are under pressure and have a declining population to pay tax, but on the other hand, there are many holiday homes in 'Coastal Denmark'.
The Danish People's Party is also positive about changing the tax so that people also pay tax where their holiday home is located.
- It shouldn't be symbolic that we make this redistribution. It should ideally have an effect where the summer houses are located, says Julie Jacobsen, rural district spokesperson for the Danish People's Party, who is willing to negotiate with the government, because the roads are still used in Outlying Denmark, even if people pay tax in other municipalities.
Kasper Friis Bavnbæk believes it is important to find solutions that benefit the local areas.
Because when detached houses are bought up and used as summer houses, the house price goes up, and locals find it more difficult to settle in the popular holiday towns.
- This forces local buyers to have to dig deeper into their pockets, and that can be challenging for a young family or people who don't have a lot of home equity, the researcher says.
The advantage, on the other hand, is if detached houses are used instead of falling into disrepair. But Kasper Friis Bavnbæk believes it is short-sighted when too many houses are bought up by people who are not local.
- It's a bit like peeing in your pants to keep warm.
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How DR made the analysis
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DR has used several different datasets from the Data Distributor to shed light on who owns buildings in different municipalities. The BBR Register (BBR Housing and Unit) shows what buildings are used for. The Register of Owners shows who owns the homes, while the Danish Address Register (DAR) shows the exact address of the buildings. DR has merged the data to get an overview.
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The survey shows when individuals own homes and it is registered in the owner register. Companies also own individual detached houses, but this is not included in DR's survey. The explanation is that DR wants to investigate where the people who personally own homes live. The CPR address generally appears in the owner register. Conversely, it is more difficult to determine a fixed address for a company.
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Sometimes people from several different municipalities can own a home together. DR has defined that a detached house is not owned by locals if none of the owners have a CPR address in the municipality where the detached house is located.
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DR can only see that people outside the municipality own the home, but not whether it is used as a summer house or rented out to locals. However, it is typically in popular holiday areas by the water that detached houses are bought by people who do not live in the municipality.
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It varies whether there is a mandatory residence requirement in the municipalities and also depends from place to place. In some areas, you can freely buy houses and use them as summer houses. In other places, you can also get permission for a detached house to be given the status of a flex house, and then the home can also be used as a summer house.
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