Denmark: 38 allotment owners reported to the police in controversial garden association

According to the municipality’s new tally, 737 of the roughly 3,700 local allotments are registered as their owners’ official home addresses during the prohibited winter months.

By Laura Malone
Politiken Journalist
Sept 2, 2026

Excerpt:

The Lilletoften allotment association in Odense is breaking almost every record when it comes to illegally oversized allotment gardens. The largest has been measured at 369 square meters, compared with the maximum permitted 60 square meters. But the nationally known association can likely boast several more records:

No fewer than 79 of the association’s 223 allotments are registered as their owners’ official home addresses during the winter half of the year. And that is despite the fact that the allotment gardens are not allowed to be occupied at all during the winter months. And as if that were not enough, the Municipality of Odense has now reported a full 38 allotment owners in Lilletoften to the police. The same attitude is found in several other allotment associations in Odense.

According to the municipality’s new tally, 737 of the roughly 3,700 local allotments are registered as their owners’ official home addresses during the prohibited winter months.

And that is not acceptable, says Odense’s councilor responsible for the area, alderman for urban development and culture Lars Christian Lilleholt, politician from the Danish party Venstre (V).

»We have to remember that when people live in an allotment all year, they are cheating the community. They do not pay property taxes, and they undermine the entire idea behind allotment gardens, where an allotment is meant to be a green summer oasis«.

On the basis of the massive media coverage, most recently the TV 2 documentary ’The Lawless Allotment Gardens,’ which aired last night, Odense will bring together the municipalities trying to stop the lawlessness.

»That is why, together with Odense Mayor Peter Rahbæk Juel, from The Social Democratic Party (S), I have now invited the other municipalities from the TV 2 documentary to a joint meeting in Odense so that we can make a joint approach to the relevant ministers«, says Lars Christian Lilleholt. He is calling for changes to the law that would make it easier to stop illegal year-round residency and remove criminals from the allotment gardens.

Read the complete article here.