Eviction

[Unwashed]

My final notice to pay up expires tomorrow and as I have not paid the Council will terminate my tenancy.  I have told them that they have 14 days to issue proceedings to recover possession, and that if they fail to evict me I expect every one of them to resign.

To re-cap, my complaint is that the 47% increase in rents that the Council imposed this year is unenforceable because the contractual term is unfair under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations because I am obliged to give the Council 12 months notice to quit and the increase was imposed without notice.

The Council's position is that they don't like people quoting regulations at them because they're the Town Council and ungrateful little proles like myself should know our place.

I'm taking a chance obviously.  I will be devastated if I lose my allotment, but the Town Council run the allotments like a dictatorship and I am not going to take it any more.  They have officially declared me to be 'vexacious' because I keep asking to go self-managed and save the tax-payer £108k/year.

I complained about the unfair term to Trading Standards and the Council confirm that Trading Standards have obliged them to alter the tenancy agreement, but perversely the Council won't concede that the increase is unenforceable.

The Council refuse to engage, and so my last best hope is to argue the toss in court.

[Unwashed]

[manicscousers]

hope it works out for you, unwashed, you're a brave man  :-\

[knottygal]

Good lucK Unwashed - is anyone stood with you or have they all rolled over and died?

[Unwashed]

Good lucK Unwashed - is anyone stood with you or have they all rolled over and died?

[poohs tao]

good luck. keeping fingers crossed for you. shame the rats have jumped ship  :(

[betula]

This is so unjust.

I fully understand that you want to fight your corner and rightly so.However is the cost of losing the lottie really worth it in the end ???

[elvis2003]

as much as i admire your bravery in taking a stand over this(and i really really do) as said above,is it really worth the risk of losing your lottie...i mean,what will you do with all that spare time,i worry you could end up in a right sorry state,i know i would if i lost ours. is there really no one that could join forces with you?
wishing you the best of luck
R
x

[Duke Ellington]

Good luck Unwashed _ I remember seeing you one day in Newbury. I hope you dont lose your allotment.
Is the local press on your side?

[antipodes]

Heavens! what a tale! I hope the bureaucrats don't get the better of you - interesting comment, ARE the local press giving you some airplay? Sounds all totally unfair. We here are an association of allotment holders so any changes have to be voted by the members.

[caroline7758]

Good luck!

[irnhed]

Best of luck

[Squash64]

Any news?

[Unwashed]

Thanks for the support guys.  I spoke to the local paper this morning and they're happy to cover the story.

[OllieC]

Good luck! Nice to see someone making a stand.

[carosanto]

It seems so sad that one person is fighting a battle over an issue which will affect each and every plot holder.  No doubt they moan and whinge about the increase too but don't have the b*lls to support you - it must feel very lonely.

I am so hoping that you don't lose your plot, it so obviously means so much to you, perhaps the local media can do some good.  Keep us all posted please..

Dealing with pigheaded and dumb bureaucracy is a no-win situation, and can seriously mess with your head, so keep sane, keep well, and keep fighting. Good luck.

Caro

[sazhig]

As someone who's spent most of the last year banging my head against a wall trying to get on the waiting list of our local allotments I can sympathise on the frustration front and dealing with bureaucracy. I hope you don't lose your plot  :(

...just a thought...but have you tried escalating your complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman?

[gaz2000]

good luck with everything

[Unwashed]

In the local paper this week.  See here.


If you're eagle-eyed you'll notice a difference in the administration costs between my avatar and the placard.  The Council admit they spend £40k of tax-payer's money administering the allotments service, but they account seperately for about £350k of administration and overheads which they don't attribute to any service, and that's just a con to keep the admitted costs down so I've rolled the relevant portion of the whole cost into the service costs and it turns out the Council spend £108k of tax-payers money providing the service - that's £40/pole - and most of that is admin and overheads.  I've asked the council a couple of times now to justify this expenditure, and justify the decision to crush the Allotment Society which was prepared to self-manage, and for my pains the Council have officially declared me to be "vexatious".

[Squash64]

Dear Vexatious Complainant  ;),

would it help if lots of us registered with the paper and made supporting comments for you?

I admire what you are doing but I don't think I'd have the guts to do it myself.  Willing to support you though.

Betty

[Jeannine]

Could they kick you off if you paid the lottie fee the same rate as you paid last year, you would have paid some of it which might throw a spanner in the works..it does with house rents, considered arrears then and not refusal to pay.At the very least it woud have to delay them and it would change the legal position somewhat. I would go for it.XX Jeannine