Topic: rents

[mellie]

we only pay £18.50 for half a plot (about 25' X 50') per year and £1 for the lottie association.
I cant believe what some of you are paying :o :o

[rdak]

Reading Council charge me about £20 as a starting fee, plus £16/year for 75 x 18ft..which I consider a bargain.
Although not too impressed that you also have to pay the starting fee for any subsequent plots you take on.

[Doris_Pinks]

Starting fee, the state most of them are when you take them on, they should be paying us to clear them!! ;D
DP

[nadcaa]

The rents for allotment are controlled by section 10 of the 1950 Act, I think - and they are supposed to be "reasonable".  They are not subject to negotiations directly by the tenants - the Council can give you the cheeky run-aroiund - but "reasonable" can be made to stick.  It was tested in Howard v. Reigate and Banstead Borough Council (13th Nov. 1981) and the tenant won.   A trebling of the rent was reversed.  Allotments are not meant to cover their own costs - they are entitled to the same rate of subsidy as other leisure activities, and the upper limit to be charged to tax (0.8 p in the £ yield) was removed in the 1992 L G Finance Regs.  Which means they can charge more to the rates than before.

Councils have a statutory duty to provide allotments , like the duty to bury the dead.  It is not down to the fads and fancies of individual councillors, and they should be reminded that they break the law if they defy that duty.  If six or more people make individual written separate requests to the Council for alloments, they must be considered.  If suitable land can be suggested the case gets stronger.  This duty to provide does not apply to things like children's playgrounds etc. which they pretend sometimes they have a right to give priority to :o.  Any money from the sale of allotment land should go to imprvements on the rest or a fund for purchase of replacements. But we do NOT have to sell land to pay for fencing etc. - that is a reasonable landlord's duty anyway.

Allotments are not defined in law by any single definition: the 1922 Act defines "allotment gardens" which are set at 40 rods (a quarter of an acre) as normal, though most are let in 10 rod sizes today ( the problems of digging, perhaps; the desire to avoid finding more land, perhaps). But those are only a subdivision of allotments. In the 1925 Act allotment means  the 1922 definition plus any parcel of land not more than five acres cultivated as a garden or farm or partly as a garden or farm; and under section 3 of the 1922 Act  an allotment is any parcel of land less than two acres attached to a cottage or not held by a tenant: which might cover the "garden extensions" one Council above is reported as trying to use to get away from the protected status of allotments.

What is a reasonable rent; perhaps the rent for  grazing land ( £150 per acre tops?) and less without sheds, fence,  and water provided: as rent actually costed to the plot holder i e say £8 a plot of 10 rods.

The way forward on the rents and services issue is to form an Association or Club covering the site - urge all plot holders to join.  You do not needCouncil approval for this.  Indeed, if you are organising a public meeting to urge the provision of more allotments, you have under the 1908 Act (where our rights were generally consolidated) the right of access to a school for the meeting.  Once you have your group come together, join the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners(O'Dell House, Hunters Road, Corby, Northamptonshire NN17 5JE) at £1-50 a head and get your case put forward with their advice; and the support of their regional groupings too, if they are active.  It is important to get all to join if possible, otherwise the free-riders are a financial burden on the rest of us.

:)The 1908 Act, which established Statutory Fields,and paved the way for compulsory purchase to get them, is one of those very rare things in law: truly benevolent legislation. We have a right to access to a decent bit of English ground, and to cultivate it for fruit, flowers, vegetables, and to keep chickens, rabbits, perhaps bees.

Well worth defending, and it can only be done as "allotments". Green space, recreation ground etc is  held only at the whim of others.
Many Councils of course have nothing but good will and their provision is fine.
:-[And I am probably telling everyone what they knew anyway - only I had to learn the hard way, so perhaps it may help some who start out like me.

[gavin]

Wow :) :) :) !!

Now you sound like a useful person to have around, nadcaa!  Not just somebody who knows where the legislation can be found, but who also knows your way around it!

Welcome aboard!

All best - Gavin

[Hyacinth]

Hello! What a wonderfully informative first post! I don't have a lottie, but I know someone who does, on a site which is being threatened...have printed this out for them.

Thanks ever such a lot - Lishka

PS...you Mr? Mrs? Miss? or, heaven forbid, not a mzzzzz, are you?  ;D

[colinandyvonne]

Starting fee, the state most of them are when you take them on, they should be paying us to clear them!! ;D
DP

Couldn't agree more  ;)

[nadcaa]

:)Thanks Alishka and gavin!
Nice to be welcomed:- I am Mr., had my first allotment when I was at school; ad helped save the site from dev4elopment.
Thanks a lot