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How Much Is The Rent For Your Allotment?
Victoria Sponge
Posts: 3,502
Hello,
Would anyone mind sharing the above information and what facilities are included, if any? If you could advise which local authority as well that would be appreciated.
I have just received the bill for my allotment for the next year and it is £165.50 including a water charge. (There is a mains tap on site).
My local authority is Sunderland City Council and I received a letter earlier this year advising they were reviewing the allotment charges but 'when compared with neighbouring authorities...will continue to be at the lower end of the charging scale'.
This charge is much higher than I expected, last year I paid £22.30 but I had moved from a larger plot where I had already paid the bill and I supposed that was the balance owed.
I do think it is a reasonable cost for renting the land but not sure it is in the spirit of allotmenteering?
I would appreciate input from other gardeners, plot holders or not, to see if this is reasonable and also to gauge if this really is 'the lower end of the charging scale'?
Would anyone mind sharing the above information and what facilities are included, if any? If you could advise which local authority as well that would be appreciated.
I have just received the bill for my allotment for the next year and it is £165.50 including a water charge. (There is a mains tap on site).
My local authority is Sunderland City Council and I received a letter earlier this year advising they were reviewing the allotment charges but 'when compared with neighbouring authorities...will continue to be at the lower end of the charging scale'.
This charge is much higher than I expected, last year I paid £22.30 but I had moved from a larger plot where I had already paid the bill and I supposed that was the balance owed.
I do think it is a reasonable cost for renting the land but not sure it is in the spirit of allotmenteering?
I would appreciate input from other gardeners, plot holders or not, to see if this is reasonable and also to gauge if this really is 'the lower end of the charging scale'?
Wearside, England.
0
Posts
Our local authority is Gosport Hampshire we have ten gardens in the borough from just 20 plots to the one I'm on that has 360.
"You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
Most allotments are half size these day's, as I mentioned mine is about 2/3 in fact it is over at 180 square meters
"You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
I saw another plot holder today who has spoken to the council about this but does not have an answer as yet. Another strange thing about these costs is he has been charged £8 less than I have for the actual plot. I measured mine, it's 105 square metres. That would make (if costs are not incremental but per metre) his 17 square metres smaller than mine which I tend to doubt.
The greater issue is the water charge of over £100 per plot (I assume we are all being charged the same but don't know that.)
Looking at @Hampshire_Hog 's post above I feel slightly fleeced! We have no parking, no facilities for manure, bark or rubbish, no committee, no shop, no competitions just the tap and a key to the gate.
I made a mistake about the previous charges above. I found my contract and the first year was £21.20 and that was the year it was partially covered by my payment for the previous plot. So for 2018/2019 it went up to £22.30.
In the contract it states 'such increase shall be the greater of at least 5% or in accordance with the All Prices RPI prevailing on the 1st April in each year of the tenancy'.
I don't understand the second half of that sentence, but if I can calculate percentages then my plot only has increased by 119% and the total charges including water is a 422% increase. That can't be right surely.
I will ring the council tomorrow and get this confirmed, ask to see costs of neighbouring authority plots and a copy of this future water bill.
I cynically think the allotment costs in my case are perhaps intended for the funding of something else which is why I would particularly like to see the water bill from Northumbria Water to the council for these plots. It also crossed my mind that since over half the plots have put up greenhouses and/or polytunnels it is thought that we aren't going anywhere and will pay whatever is requested.
Thinking about Barry's comments over the page... I agree that councils should up the cost, they probably should have started increasing the cost some years ago. However I think to increase by over 100% (not including the water fees) in one go is not appropriate, they should be open about what they are doing and stagger the cost. I would also suggest that it should be like for like across all plots under that authority and comparable nationwide.
According to the article provided by Pansyface, it would be less costly to have a larger plot in London than a plot presided over by Sunderland.
I think there is a legacy thinking that allotmenteering is an inexpensive hobby (possibly because it was supposed to be a way of producing food for your household?) but it has lately become more fashionable I think. If it is now seen as a hobby for better-off people not reliant on the produce to live/improve their lives, I suppose the council is justified in raising the costs. At these new rates it would cost the equivalent of £14 a month before any equipment, tools or plants are purchased.