Allotment rent
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter, Chief Spud
I know this subject has been discussed at length in the past, but perhaps circumstances have changed and I wonder if we could have some comparative prices: we received our allotment rent notice today and it's gone up from £15 p.a. to £20. For this we have a full size allotment (approx 60 feet by 60 feet) on a steeply sloping site without any facilities other than a dip-in water trough at the top of the site (we are right at the bottom). There are no formal paths, no vehicular access, boundaries between plots are plotholders' responsibilty. Please note, I am not complaining (we will gladly pay up) but I just wonder how we compare with other areas.
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Stephen
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Hi Monika
Here in Hertfordshire my rent is comparable . Likewise the plot is sloping (pretty much everything is here) and the aspect is largely northerly (but open so that there is plenty of sunshine)
For the 40odd plots there are three water-troughs but each does also have a hose connection as well.
Here in Hertfordshire my rent is comparable . Likewise the plot is sloping (pretty much everything is here) and the aspect is largely northerly (but open so that there is plenty of sunshine)
For the 40odd plots there are three water-troughs but each does also have a hose connection as well.
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
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Compo
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They moaned here in Sedgemoor, when it went 15 squid for a full size plot, from a tennder, we have about six tnaps between 28 plots, very few rules, only the common sense ones and the council really does not know that we exist, which is a bonus really.
I think we are fortunate, and expect one day the council will intervene and we will have less of everything and pay more.
Compo
I think we are fortunate, and expect one day the council will intervene and we will have less of everything and pay more.
Compo
Hi
My allotment rent is £60 per year for a full sized plot (approx 40 x 25) There are different prices for half plots and the pensioners get a discount.
We have a stores where we can buy compost, watering cans, fertilizers, weedkillers, pots etc. We also have a shed each and a greenhouse, taps at intervals and a toilet block. We also have a meeting room.
Any boundary issues are sorted by the committee, we have security fencing and are council run.
I personally think this is good value for money.
My allotment rent is £60 per year for a full sized plot (approx 40 x 25) There are different prices for half plots and the pensioners get a discount.
We have a stores where we can buy compost, watering cans, fertilizers, weedkillers, pots etc. We also have a shed each and a greenhouse, taps at intervals and a toilet block. We also have a meeting room.
Any boundary issues are sorted by the committee, we have security fencing and are council run.
I personally think this is good value for money.
Lots of love
Lizzie
Lizzie
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oldherbaceous
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Ours is a tenner a year, and this includes water.
We also get all the grass paths cut, what is very nice.
Oh, i nearly forgot, i cut the grass paths so maybe thats not quite as good as i first thought.
We also get all the grass paths cut, what is very nice.
Oh, i nearly forgot, i cut the grass paths so maybe thats not quite as good as i first thought.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
I don't pay anything for my half plot, and never have in all the 7 years I've had it. 
However, there are no facilities, no running water etc, so we all have water buts. There are only 3 and a 1/2 real plots, although recently someone has tried to put raised beds in the scrub area at the end. There is a huge demand for space since 'they' built houses on the rest of the allotment land. It seems everyone in the new houses wants a bit of allotment! 
I'm not sure who owns the land - the Church I think - but as plot-holders we sort everything out for ourselves. I'm quite happy with it, although water on tap would be nice!
However, there are no facilities, no running water etc, so we all have water buts. There are only 3 and a 1/2 real plots, although recently someone has tried to put raised beds in the scrub area at the end. There is a huge demand for space since 'they' built houses on the rest of the allotment land. It seems everyone in the new houses wants a bit of allotment!
I'm not sure who owns the land - the Church I think - but as plot-holders we sort everything out for ourselves. I'm quite happy with it, although water on tap would be nice!
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Sarah, i don't think anyone can beat that.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
Our plot is about 15 ft X 60 ft and costs us £25. we are lucky in that it borders a field, and there is a wide strip of grass and scrub between us and the hedgerow (from which we get apples and plums). We have put two raised beds on a former bramble patch which we cleared, and have also planted some comfrey and several soft fruit bushes in the grass area. So we get very good value for money, as we also have a water tap at the end and were allowed to put up a shed with no problems.
Aren't sheds brilliant??? but we've done that one before...
Aren't sheds brilliant???
but we've done that one before...
When allotments were first about the size was
66ft x 33ft which produced 20 allotments to the acre but things have changed over the years. The original allotment made allowance for one side path and one head or sole path. The plot holder was responsible for these paths. It now seems that since councils have taken them over mainly. When allotments started there was no such thing as indoor plumbing let alone hose pipes. I think a law was passed back in the 1920's that councils had, by law to, provide a certain amount of allotments worked out on the local population. Does anybody know if this law is still on the statue books or not.
As for charges, well I feel that Lizzie is being grossly overcharged by comparison with everybody else. Her charges are the highest so far the second smallest plot. I dread to think what a full plot in Liverpool would cost!
JB.
66ft x 33ft which produced 20 allotments to the acre but things have changed over the years. The original allotment made allowance for one side path and one head or sole path. The plot holder was responsible for these paths. It now seems that since councils have taken them over mainly. When allotments started there was no such thing as indoor plumbing let alone hose pipes. I think a law was passed back in the 1920's that councils had, by law to, provide a certain amount of allotments worked out on the local population. Does anybody know if this law is still on the statue books or not.
As for charges, well I feel that Lizzie is being grossly overcharged by comparison with everybody else. Her charges are the highest so far the second smallest plot. I dread to think what a full plot in Liverpool would cost!
JB.
JB
Our Borough charge the highest rents in the County...I have two half plots each approximately 225 square yards for which I pay the princely sum of £34 plus a few odd pence, this includes a discount for us aged ones.
We do have water on site and that is included... I don't begrudge paying this amount but do get a little envious at some of the very low rents others are paying.
Our Borough charge the highest rents in the County...I have two half plots each approximately 225 square yards for which I pay the princely sum of £34 plus a few odd pence, this includes a discount for us aged ones.
We do have water on site and that is included... I don't begrudge paying this amount but do get a little envious at some of the very low rents others are paying.
I am in my own little world, ...it's OK, ...they know me there!
Many thanks for all your replies - rents and facilities really do seem to vary greatly. Your comments on the statutory responsibilities of council is interesting, Johnboy, because our council clerk writes "the Council felt that it was inappropriate to subsidise the allotments from other sources of income and that the allotments should be self supporting". We, too, thought that councils had to provide an adequate number of allotments where the demand exists and there is a waiting list in our village for the approximately 15 plots. At present, the two sites are rented by the council from the Duke of Devonshire's estate which owns much of the farmland in the area and, presumably, as farmland rent increases, our allotment rent has to follow.
Monika,
On our allotment we are charged £20 for a 10 rod plot. This money is virtually all used to pay our water bills. Because our site is owned jointly by Network Rail and the Council, we have to pay the former £97.00 per year just to have water carried by their bridge onto the site; we are surrounded by railway lines. Other than running water, which we have to pay for, we bung about £30.00 a year to one of the guys to cut the paths. We are somewhat more expensive than other plots in the area, since they don' have the additional expense mentioned above. We are self-managed; the Council spends ZERO money on us and can't even find equipment to help us clear plots. Instead, we use offenders on the Community Service programme.
As for the Council's responsibility to provide plots, if six Council Tax payers petition the Council for an allotment, it HAS TO provide them with land. This is enshrined under the original allotment act, which is around 100 years old; it has never been rescinded. There is, I believe, no obligation to keep sites open, even if full, but alternative land MUST BE provided if sites closed. That is the law.
On our allotment we are charged £20 for a 10 rod plot. This money is virtually all used to pay our water bills. Because our site is owned jointly by Network Rail and the Council, we have to pay the former £97.00 per year just to have water carried by their bridge onto the site; we are surrounded by railway lines. Other than running water, which we have to pay for, we bung about £30.00 a year to one of the guys to cut the paths. We are somewhat more expensive than other plots in the area, since they don' have the additional expense mentioned above. We are self-managed; the Council spends ZERO money on us and can't even find equipment to help us clear plots. Instead, we use offenders on the Community Service programme.
As for the Council's responsibility to provide plots, if six Council Tax payers petition the Council for an allotment, it HAS TO provide them with land. This is enshrined under the original allotment act, which is around 100 years old; it has never been rescinded. There is, I believe, no obligation to keep sites open, even if full, but alternative land MUST BE provided if sites closed. That is the law.
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gowerbass come gardener
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£20 per year.with running water
a bad days fishing beats a good days work
Our rents went up this year from £13 to £15, good value as they are quiet big plots, its privetly owned ground,the £15 is to pay for the water,well laid roads on site, no toilets, no fires allowed as we are very close to the motorway and smoke could be a problem,(someone tried to burn tyres once)
All shapes and sizes of sheds and greenhouses.
Bren
All shapes and sizes of sheds and greenhouses.
Bren