Topic: Cost of allotment

[aussiedigger]

£200 seems an outrageous amount.  If there was an icon for a shark, I'd use it!   :o will have to do!!

Offer what you feel is reasonable and see if he accepts.  It's all very well asking £200 a year - but is anyone actually going to pay that?

I pay £10 a year for a private allotment.  90 sq metres, no water, no shed, no loo, but it is quiet, peaceful, the other plot holders are friendly and generous with their advice and it is 5 mins walk from home - heaven on a stick!

[hippydave]

i pay £40 a year for a full allotment in nottinghanshire, we have running water, parking a chemical toilet and the council keep all the pathways strimmed, although i regularly run the mower up and down when im there.

[Vortex]

It only lets me vote once but I have 2 half plots, both council, different sites & councils
One is £17/year the other £10.50.
Water on both but no sheds/greenhouses/polytunnels

[Eristic]

Well I think most of the posters have missed the point here. It is a private and therefore non-subsidised site and £200 a year seems realistic. Also bear in mind that not only is there a 2-3 year waiting list but it is situated in a convenient location within walking distance saving at least £2 a visit in petrol alone. Several members of this forum spend that much just on seeds.

[littlebabybird]

i have a full size plot now and pay £116
we have a gate, car park and some cattle troughs
plus free manure but its not useable
its 15 Min's drive away and council owned
i waited 2 1/2 years for it and would pay triple for it
especially if it was closer
lbb

[Sinbad7]

I can't see what it has to do with how much other's pay for their plots.  If it was me it would depend how much I wanted a plot to how much I paid for it.

If it is going to be a hobby is £4 a week too much to pay for a families hobby?  Does one ask this question before taking up or joining anything?  I wouldn't have thought so.

Sinbad

[Duke Ellington]

If it is going to be a hobby is £4 a week too much to pay for a families hobby?  Does one ask this question before taking up or joining anything?  I wouldn't have thought so.
Sinbad

I totally agree~you have to decide what you can afford and if its worth paying it!! I pay over £500 a year for piano lessons! Now I am sure there are people across the country paying alot less or more than me but it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is if someone on your allotment was paying £14 for the same size and you had to pay £200.
Decision time!!

Duke

[Borlotti]

If you are 65 like me you could spend your heating allowance on it and save on heating by spending all day at the allotment digging.  It certainly warms one up. As previously stated it can only be your decision.

[Deb P]

Agree £200 a year seems a lot compared to other sites, however....

would I pay it if I had to, to keep my allotment? YES! Worth it, worth it, worth it! ;D

[Fork]

When you say £4 per week it sounds a whole lot better and I expect everyone would be happy with that if thats what they could pay....£4 per week!

Not everyone can afford to fork(no pun intended)out £200 in one go.

[Frampers]

If it is going to be a hobby is £4 a week too much to pay for a families hobby?  Does one ask this question before taking up or joining anything?  I wouldn't have thought so.

Hmmm!

Lots of good comments from you all once again especially Sinbad et al. You've really put the cat amongst the pigeons with that view point.

Maybe its the bargain hunter in me coming out that I want to get as much as I can for as little as I can and I would be gutted if I didn't at least try to get a bargain.

Sharon

[Moonbeam65]

My own allotment association in Dundee charge £15 for senior citizens and £18 for others that is for a ten pole allotment per year.

[Helofadigger]

Hi all sorry not been on here for a very long while. :(

Regarding private allotments our plots are private and all we pay is £5 per plot for water, £8 per plot rental and our one off sub fees of £2 each.

Most of it is fenced off the rest is open to farmland, it is gated and locked up each night if the last person remembers to do so.

At the moment hubby (Bob) is moaning about paying the water rates for each plot as we hardly use the water only for washing down the lovely veg and doesn't see why we should pay three times water rates when we use it so little, when you come to think about it he does have a point.Hel.xxx.

[STEVEB]

its already been said but if 4 squid a week is affordable might be worth trying out.negotiate a  6 month trial time it may not be for you ?no polly tunnels?negotiate a cut price winter rate !
at the end of the day its your shout.
still bloody expensive compared with my 12 quid water 6 months of the year parking and security(as good as you can)
good luck and haggle your heart out
xx

[grays85]

hi. I am coming at this from the other side. ::). There are huge waiting lists for allotments.so I can put a field to one side, then i have got to:  :P Fence it off, make the field secure, put in water supplies, each will have their own tap. supply a compost drum and rain water collection drum, add drainage to the land, have a secure site with lockable steel cargo container, then remove the turf plough the land, fence the plots off, have public liability insurance, hardcore an area for parking, supply and erect possibly up to 16 sheds. hardcore footpaths  and access areas as the hedges and fencing have to be maintained. Draw up contracts, maintain the area around the plots. Hope no one dumps rubbish and is responsible, collect the fees. What do you think i should charge... I'm supplying to meet the demand, I'm not a charity and that list doesn't cover the labour!! £4.80 a week isn't a packet of ciggies! not a crate of lager! an evening at the cinema...

[Flunky]

hi. I am coming at this from the other side. ::). There are huge waiting lists for allotments.so I can put a field to one side, then i have got to:  :P Fence it off, make the field secure, put in water supplies, each will have their own tap. supply a compost drum and rain water collection drum, add drainage to the land, have a secure site with lockable steel cargo container, then remove the turf plough the land, fence the plots off, have public liability insurance, hardcore an area for parking, supply and erect possibly up to 16 sheds. hardcore footpaths  and access areas as the hedges and fencing have to be maintained. Draw up contracts, maintain the area around the plots. Hope no one dumps rubbish and is responsible, collect the fees. What do you think i should charge... I'm supplying to meet the demand, I'm not a charity and that list doesn't cover the labour!! £4.80 a week isn't a packet of ciggies! not a crate of lager! an evening at the cinema...

Or alternatively you could make it secure and plotted out, add a supply of water and leave the rest to the allotment holders. Thats how it is on our council run plot. We only had a car park made last year up to that point it was grass. I pay £35 per year.

[Mr Smith]

This is farmers and landowners out to make a buck I'm not against enterprise but set aside for the farming fraternity was a blessing, I have never seen so many golf courses, country parks and plant a few trees sit back and collect the money and now its turning their fields into allotments at  £200.00 a shot, personally at that price I would buy myself a few tubs and grow bags and have a backyard full of veg, :o

[SPUDLY]

The question you have to ask yourself is, are you going to be happy paying that much. I'm not sure how big the site is that you are on, or how many plots there are. The problem is this chap is trying to make some money from the land, rather than let it stand idle. If he were to charge £20 per year for a plot, he's not going to make a great deal. The next problem is, how long is the £200 capped for, you could get all the hard work done, only to find that next year it's gone up by £50. I would sit down and add up how much you spend on fruit and veg in 6 months, because you won't be harvesting much through the winter without the likes of a poly tunnel, although you can freeze most of what you grow. Then there is the size of the plot and what you can get from it during the season. Whatever you choose, hope it goes well.

[Eristic]

Well the man asked a fair question even if you thing he's a greedy fat farmer.

Standard business models normally expect capital costs to be recouped on a 15-20 year basis given it is low risk. (No risk actually.) So lets say a fair rent would be about one tenth of the value of the land per annum. Keep it simple and assume land value = £10,000 per acre then a fair rent would be £1,000 per acre per annum. 16 full plots per acre gives about £65 - £70 per plot. Adjust figures to fit the real land value.

Remember. It is not just supply and demand but the landowner has to do all his work even if the site is empty and if the price is significantly higher than indicated there will be poor uptake. 50% occupancy equates to half price plots.

I would be concerned about continuation of occupancy after the first year. I know a lot of farmers and if onions were to shoot up in price to £1 each the farmer would calculate how much he could earn growing onions and void all contracts at the earliest opportunity if there was more money in it.

[DenBee]

We pay £50 a year for ours.  It's privately managed, on land which was covenanted to our town for allotment use by what was the local landowning family.  We get nothing extra for that £50 - by which I mean no water, toilet facilities, car parking, hedge cutting, etc.  And when I say privately managed, I mean that the management company collect the cheque each year, and that's their sole input.  :) Each plot has a high hedge, with a door, and I love the fact that they are all individual large private 'gardens'. I know we pay more than the average, but I'm not bothered by it.  I think that's the thing - what something's worth is what it's worth to you.