- You can say that no colonist wants to let go of his lot, says Estelle Conraux, colony grower in Södra Årstalunden and member of Stockholm's allotment gardens.
In Sweden, the demand for both cultivation and cottage plots has grown so it cracks during the pandemic.
Many associations have seen a doubling of the number of queues, some have closed their queues completely and others have broken driving records.
Södra Årstalunden's allotment gardens in Stockholm entered the pandemic with 130 people in their allotment queue.
That number grew to two hundred queuing last year.
This year it is 240 people.
- A slightly smaller increase, but still quite a lot if you compare, says Estelle Conraux.
Cottage lots are also popular
The pandemic has also served as fertilizer for the prices of cottage lots in Sweden.
The increase is almost four percent this year in terms of the final price per square meter in the places where cottage plots can be sold at market price.
In addition, there are more people selling now, according to very recent figures from the housing site Hemnet.
There they believe in a pandemic effect.
When it has become more difficult to travel and do other things, the desire to buy a colony cottage has increased.
- And owners who previously thought of selling have probably become more motivated to sell when they have seen that prices have increased, says Erik Holmberg, analyst at Hemnet.
Several years of waiting time
In Stockholm municipality, colony cottages are not sold at market price but at a regulated price.
And those who already have a cottage or plot are lucky.
- Many say that the allotments were the rescue.
It's nice to have your habits here.
And to continue to meet people outdoors, says Estelle Conraux.
How long would you have to wait to get a ticket in your association as it is now?
- I think eight to ten years, says Estelle Conraux.