– I am happy when the guests like the cabin. They think it’s nice, smiles Birgitte Duggen. The German couple rent out their cabin in Telemark for almost 200 days a year. In the cabin field in Vrådal, 20 German cabin owners do the same. They have good experiences with others using their cabins. The guests don’t come here to party. – They like the beautiful country and want to be here, says Hans Jürgen Duggen. Hans Jürgen and Birgitte Duggen from Germany have only had good experiences renting out the cabin in Telemark for 200 days a year. Photo: ROALD MARKER / news Many are positive, but few rent out the cabin. The Nature Conservation Association believes that more Norwegian cabin owners must do as the Germans do. On average, a Norwegian cabin is empty 300 days a year, according to figures from the Prognosesenteret. More people must share in the luxury of the Norwegian mountain home, points out the head of the Nature Conservation Association, Truls Gulowsen. Leader of the Nature Conservation Association, Truls Gulowsen. Photo: Eivind Molde / news They want a complete stop to cabin construction in new areas. – The cabins we have already built, we should share, rent out and get more use out of, so that we don’t have to build new cabins in nature, he says. 28 per cent are positive about renting out the cabin, according to figures from the holiday home survey by the Prognosesenteret in September. At the same time, only 6 percent answer that they have rented out the cabin in the last 12 months, according to the figures. Gulowsen believes that a change of attitude is needed. Norwegian cabin owners have a tradition of thinking that the cabin is private, he points out. – Norwegians are used to living in other people’s holiday homes when they are abroad, and should be able to do it just as easily in their own country. It is mostly about a change in mentality, says Gulowsen. Can you imagine renting out your cabin? Can impose rental in new fields Researcher at Østlandsforskning, Tor Arnesen, has researched measures to increase access to the cabin dream without building new cabins. Researcher at Østlandsforskning, Tor Arnesen. Photo: Privat One solution could be to require new cabin owners to rent out a certain number of days each year, the report that came out last year showed. It is a topic in several municipalities when planning new cottage fields, he says. But it doesn’t work by itself. Some municipalities that have tried this have gone back on the requirement, he points out. – If this type of rental is to be successful, there must be a device where people can get assistance in preparing cabins for rental, says Arnesen. Municipality dropped demand for rental Lillehammer municipality recently dropped the proposal for mandatory rental in the new cabin field Nordseter. Instead, they will open up the possibility for those who want it, says the municipality’s city planning manager, Gunhild Stugaard. Nordseter at Lillehammer there could be 200-300 leisure units in the new area plan. The municipality has waived its obligation to rent. Photo: Camilla Alexandra Lie / news – It turns out that in the major tourist destinations it is possible to get such an arrangement through booking companies that take care of rentals, while at Nordseter you don’t believe there is a market for it, says she. Hemsedal municipality has been successful with rental requirements for over 20 years, says mayor Pål Terje Rørby (Sp). Mayor Pål Rørby (Sp) in Hemsedal. Photo: Vilde Jagland / news The obligation applies to around a third of holiday homes, he estimates. For some, this may mean that they can only use the cabin for a maximum of 42 days in winter and 42 days in summer. The holiday homes have a common booking system and caretaker services. – It has a good effect. It is income for the cabin owner that the unit is rented out, and there is less use of nature because more people use the same unit several times a year, says Rørby. Difficult to force Storting representative in SV, Lars Haltbrekken, does not believe that force is the solution. Storting representative for SV, Lars Haltbrekken. Photo: Dan Robert Larsen / news SV proposed a complete halt to cabin construction in new fields in October, but did not get a majority in the Storting. Haltbrekken believes it is better to have arrangements that facilitate letting. – I think it’s great that people rent out their cabins and that more people are doing it, but it’s hard to imagine us forcing people to do it, says Haltbrekken.
ttn-69
Think more Norwegians must do like the Germans and rent out their cabin – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
