Allotment notice to quit

[kiara]

Can anyone let me know what is the length of termination to quit that is given under the Allotment act 1950?I am a member of an self managed allotment association and for a 4 days delay in paying my year fees the chairman is now serving me with a termination of a week. In fact he has sent me a letter saying that next Tuesday if I have not vacated my allotment he will be breaking into my shed and move my possessions. The allotment is self managed but belongs to Merton Council. I have contacted the Council many times with no success...can anyone advise what I should do please I am desperate.

[kiara]

[BAK]

kiara,

What does your tenancy agreement say with respect to non-payment of rent?

The usual figure that is mentioned in agreements is that you can be given notice to quit if 40 days or more have elapsed since the due date for payment.

[Melbourne12]

Can anyone let me know what is the length of termination to quit that is given under the Allotment act 1950?I am a member of an self managed allotment association and for a 4 days delay in paying my year fees the chairman is now serving me with a termination of a week. In fact he has sent me a letter saying that next Tuesday if I have not vacated my allotment he will be breaking into my shed and move my possessions. The allotment is self managed but belongs to Merton Council. I have contacted the Council many times with no success...can anyone advise what I should do please I am desperate.

If this is the first communication asking you to leave, then the lateness of your payment was trivial, and the notice period is unreasonably short.  If, on the other hand, this is the culmination of years of argument over alleged breaches of the rules, then you may be in a more difficult position.

Time is obviously very short.  You need to get a letter delivered to him, by hand if necessary, headed "Letter before action".  Say something along the lines of:

"Dear Sir,

I have received your letter of xx Feb 2014 reference xyz.  I have been advised that a 4 day delay in payment is insufficient to justify immediate termination of my tenancy.  Furthermore, the notice period of 7 days is unreasonably short.

If my tenancy is indeed terminated in this way, or any of my property damaged, I will take action to recover damages and costs from you.

I am, however, willing to discuss the matter further if you wish to make arrangements so to do.

Yours faithfully

..."

That should be all you need to hold up any eviction.  If they do go ahead, then you'll need to speak to a solicitor, and get a lawyer's letter sent to him to demand restitution.

[sparrow]

When you write to the Chair, please make sure that you include all the details and copy in your Council officer and also your local councillor. If you paid 4 days late (and I understand Merton rents can be quite high) and your payment was returned, make sure that you detail that, with the reasons that they gave. You said that they also asked you to meet with the committee, so detail that too. You could ask for a meeting with the Council officer and the Committee to try and sort things out.

[Digeroo]

Legal letters need to be send by post and a record kept of date of posting. 

[calico]

In my days as an allotment site secretary the termination notice was one  calendar month.
This gives time to remove possessions and perhaps reach agreement with the new tenant about any crops left in the ground. Hope this helps.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Was your money returned to you? If not, they've accepted payment, and your tenancy should be fine in law.

[gavinjconway]

Eviction for 4 days late payment is ridiculous. I would seek legal advice and go and see the council.. dont phone them - go to them. 

[realfood]

Legal letters must be sent by recorded delivery to be valid. Anything could happen to a letter, and it might not be delivered.

[Robert_Brenchley]

A court will assume a letter's been received, but to be on the safe side it's better to record them. Then the person on the receiving end will know they can't pretend not to have got the thing.

[Alipip]

It sounds rather harsh for 4 days late payment. We are told when the rents have to be paid by, and termination of agreement will follow if not paid - not sure how long it would be though.
Apply to the committee to have this overturned, hopefully they will see sense.

[cornykev]

a bit more meat on the bone, me thinks.   

[Old Central]

Kiara
Good grief! I am on a self managed site in Merton and can't imagine that happening with us. Can you PM me with details of where your site is and I'll give you some contacts that will be useful .......
OC

[gavinjconway]

Our site sends a letter after a month overdue and a fine of £5... they soon get paid. This year only 2 people were late 

[Spookyville]

so what happened then?

[gavinjconway]

so what happened then?

...then they paid up including the fine.. and we all live happily again..

[galina]

Kiara, any update from you?  Today is the threatened eviction day?  We hope you are going to be ok.

[Old Central]

The stats don't look encouraging for a reply unless Kiara is not logging in and viewing it anonymously.

Date Registered: March 05, 2014, 10:28:10
Last Active: March 06, 2014, 01:07:30

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