Topic: NOTICE TO QUIT

[55david]

Can anyone please tell me what is the legal procedure a town council must follow in order to evict someone from their allotment?

I am of the understanding that they must first go to court to get a Possession Order

Is this correct or can they just appoint a bailiff to evict you without going to court?

I do not owe any money to the council, my rent is paid in advance up to 31/03/13

[elvis2003]

Good god, no! If they had to go through all that no one would ever be evicted and plots would be in a terrible state. Here in Liverpool the council simply send a plotholder an eviction notice,that's it. They then have the right to appeal. Hope this helps.

[cornykev]

State your case and put a bit more meat on the bone.   

[Unwashed]

Hi David

I'm really sorry you're being victimised by your council (I read your previous post).  To answer your question: No, a council can't appoint a bailiff, bailiffs are appointed by the court to enforce a possession order.

However, that's not really the important question.  Bad news is that as you live outside the parish boundary then the council doesn't actually have the power to let you an allotment in the first place and should by rights have terminated your tenancy when you moved.  It's possibe that your council have not got the process right, but it will cost you a lot of stress and money to try and defend your position and to be honest it's hard to stand up to the gestapo tactics of a town council, and even if you succeed the council will eventually get the process right and get you off.  It shouldn't have come to this, but town councils are run by small-minded tyrants, so as I see it your only option is to quit and move on.

For info, the significant legislation is Section 23 Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908, this bit in particular: "the council shall provide a sufficient number of allotments, and shall let such allotments to persons resident in the borough, district, or parish, and desiring to take the same."  A council, as a statutory body, can legally only do what it's empowered to do by legislation, and the only power a council has to let allotments comes from this section, and the duty on a parish council is limited to letting allotments to residents of that parish only.  Sorry.

[55david]

Thanks for the confirmation Unwashed

The council sent a certified bailiff to my house on Thurs last, he handed my carer/partner a Notice to Quit, giving me 7 days in which to deliver to him possession of my allotment plot

It also states that he has the power under Part V (of what it does not say) to remove any person(s), vehicles or livestock that are on the land

And:
If on the above date any occupants are still on the site they will be evicted

This to me and everyone who's read it, seems like an eviction notice for gypsies/travellers

The bailiff also said he'd been doing the job 10 years and this was his 1st allotment eviction- my carer/partner said that he could not evict us without a possession order from the court - he said he's going back to the council & will ring her the next day - up to now he has not contacted us

With regards to living outside the town boundary, the present rules state that applicants for allotments must be resident in the town at the time of application - I was.  I also contacted the legal adviser at NSALG who said unless it explicitly states in the rules if someone moves out of the area they have to give up their allotment, then the council cannot use the Small Holdings & Allotments Act 1908 section 30, paragraph 2 to evict me

I was forced to move from the town to approx 3 miles from the actual allotments through constant unbearable anti social behaviour

The council (mayor actually) said to my carer/partner that under the circumstances & due to my mental health being greatly improved from tending my allotment I could keep the allotment as long as I wanted - he has kept his mouth tightly shut on this matter, not surprising

The council have happily taken my yearly rent twice since then, it is only because we have questioned their so-called rules & stood up for my rights that I am being evicted - they see us as someone who'll cause trouble for them and are willing to stoop to any level in order to get rid

[Unwashed]

If a council landlord is relying on the statutory power of Section 30 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 to terminate an allotment tenancy because the tenant is living more than a mile outside the parish boundary I think it's worth reminding the council that Section 30 applies to allotments in general, and that Section 1 of the Allotments Act 1922 (as ammended by Section 1 of the Allotments Act 1950) restricts the ways in which a landlord can terminate the tenancy of an allotment garden, where an allotment garden is defined by Section 22 (1) as "The expression “allotment garden” means an allotment not exceeding forty poles in extent which is wholly or mainly cultivated by the occupier for the production of vegetable or fruit crops for consumption by himself or his family;".  So as long as the allotment is not bigger than 40 poles and is being used mainly to grow fruit and veg and isn't being used to grow commercially then Section 1 of the Allotment Act 1922 protects the tenancy from being terminated by a 30 day notice under Section 30 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908, and if the landlord wants to terminate the tenancy they must do so with a Notice to Quit of not less that 12 months expiring on the anniversary of the tenancy in accordance with Section 1 of the Allotments Act 1922 as ammended by Section 1 of the Allotments Act 1950.

Note:  As always, this is just my view, and I'm not a solicitor, just a bloke with an allotment and access to Google.  I hope it might inform your research, but remember I could be completely wrong.  Best of luck.

[Redpippin]

55david, that’s terrible I really feel for you. Bloody councillors why cant they show some compassion or common sense. As for the mayor telling you you were OK I don’t trust any of them and any dealings we have with the council we ask for it to be confirmed in writing. I just hope somehow you manage to keep what’s yours, would it be any good contacting your MP?

[Poolcue]

I don't want to appear to be rude but you told your full story on another forum which alters the facts somewhat.
I think the issue of your oversized shed is quite important.

[55david]

If the issue of the shed size was was so important then why have the council not evicted me on breaking this rule?

Because it just does not exist!

We are being victimised due to us having the audacity to question them

We received another letter from the council today confirming they've issued us with 'a common law Notice to Evict' - if we're not off the plot and taken down the shed by this Thurs 31st Jan 'a court writ will be put in place for bailiffs to take down the shed & remove the chattels'

My partner/carer spoke to the bailiff earlier today who said he's been told by the council to remove our stuff on Thurs if it's still there

We're waiting for advise from the NSALG on what to do now & are contacting our local MP, who did write to the town council last year who suggested they have a meeting with all the allotment holders - as usual it was ignored

[Unwashed]

If the issue of the shed size was was so important then why have the council not evicted me on breaking this rule?

Because it just does not exist!

Exactly.  Councils see themselves as fudal overlords, but they're not, they're small businesses in the service sector, and they need to learn some customer care skill and stop treating people like serfs.

Anyhoo, this isn't about the shed now, it's about a tenant's right not to be victimised.  You have my support David.

[55david]

Thanks Unwashed for all your sound advice & suggestions

Will keep everyone updated on how things are going - watch this space!

[davyw1]

Doesn't make sense to me, The council being your landlard for some reason want you gone and as soon as possible.
As Unwashed says they should issue you with one years notice to quit stating that your lease will not be renewed on or no later than a date specified under whatever act and you have 21 days to appeal in writing.
They do not need to give you any reason.
Then all they have to do is wait at no extra cost till your rent is due. If you do not leave then a solicitors letter is sent to you informing you that an eviction notice will be sought and should the decision go against you court costs will be asked for from you
Then the next step would be to apply for the eviction order.

Now either the council has not consulted a solicitor, not done their home work regarding the allotments act or waisting money in trying to get you off in a hurry
by bluff and lack of knowledge.

Ask where your One Years Notice to Quit is quoting the Allotments Act and see what responce you get. But then you are informing them how to do it properly so you are swapping deckchairs on the Titanic

[55david]

Received some encouraging news today from the CAB, they believe the eviction is illegal and are looking into it further

We've also got our MP involved, who's emailed the council requesting they show discretion, as they have done for the past 2 years (since moving) in allowing us to continue to rent the allotment 

[Unwashed]

That's all good David, keep the faith!

[55david]

Just discovered that the Part V of the bailiff's notice to quit refers to the criminal justice & public order act 1994 chapter 33 part v

The council are attempting to evict us because we're trespassing!

Don't see how they can do this as the way I read the first subsection, there has to be 2 or more people who intend to occupy the land and all subsections afterwards rely on subsection 1 applying

Am I correct in this assumption or can anyone please explain how the council can apply this?

Many thanks

[Nigel B]

There's nothing I can offer you except my support David.
Best of luck chap.

[55david]

Thank you NigelB, it is very much appreciated

[davyw1]

I Have only had a brief look at the act but reading one one part if your rent is paid up untill a date in the future then you have an exclusion as the land is leased to you and you cant be evicted under this act.

Not having a rave are you

[55david]

LOL!  bit too old for that

Spoken to the bailifs office & the town clerk, no-one seems to know/won't say what the reason for the eviction is now, with one saying to ring the other & vice versa - going round in circles here - can they evict me for that?! LOL!

[Unwashed]

Not having a rave are you

:)

The Town Council are behaving disgracefully.   Section 61 of the CJ&PO Act is for evicting gypsies.  It's a necessary condition of eviction under Sectin 61 that there's at least two of you, and that you either intend to live on the allotment, or that you've damaged it or been abusive to the landowner - but of course you need to be a trespasser and you're not - the council purported to terminate your tenancy using Section 30 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908, but Section 1 of the Allotments Act 1922 disapplies Section 30 for allotment garden tenancies.

As far as I can tell Section 61 of the CJ&PO Act empowers the police to evict, it doesn't create any new civil power so I can't see how the council think they're going to use it.  They could call the police of course, but you just need to show the constable your tenancy agreement and the police will walk away - tenancy disputes and even simple trespass are civil matters and the police won't want to get involved and have no power to in any case.  Of course if the council's behaviour is likely to cause a breach of the peace the the police have a duty to get involved and they'll likely tell the police to wind their neck in and apply to the court for an eviction order.

I don't want to be anything less than supportive, but I'll just mention again:  I might be wrong about Section 30 not being effective, it is possible that your tenancy has been terminated and that you are a trespasser.  I can't see how the police would be willing to invoke Section 61 of the CJ&PO Act if you're just going about your allotmenteering peacefully, but I suppose they just might.  You need to satisfy yourself that the Section 30 notice of termination is defective because it all turns on that.