Allotment fees have quadrupled!!

[Growem]

Myself and other gardeners at our allotment site just received a letter yesterday stating our fees will go up for next year (rent is due in October). We had been paying £1 per pole until now and it's gone up now to £4 per pole. Most of us have 5 pole plots, so it will be £20 per year for us, or half-price for OAPs. I still think £20 is pretty cheap for a fenced-in site that has running water available, but I also think it's an extremely large jump in the price - 400% increase!

What do others think?

[PAULW]

IMO you have got away very lightly for long enough, I am paying over £63 for approx 16 rod and our rent is going up this year and I still reckon its a bargain much cheap much cheaper than the local health centre.

[Growem]

With respect Paul, I think the argument comparing it to the local health centre is a lousy one.

A health centre has someone there at all times who I can ask for advice and help to make sure I'm doing things correctly. They invested their money in the equipment and I'm allowed to use it included in the fees. There are classes I can take and new skills I can learn, again included in the fee. There are also showers, a pool and a creche for my kids. My allotment fees cover none of these things, unless I want to take a shower in cold water! I just think it's a silly comparison, I don't go to the allotment and a health centre for the same reasons.

As for "getting away lightly" for long enough, how long is that? It was £5 when I started 3 years ago. If they had slowly increased it, I probably wouldn't be complaining, it's the sudden big leap that bothers me.

[PAULW]

So you don't get any benefit from having an allotment? did you only take it because it was cheap, there is a thread on here that discusses the fact that Wyvale are letting plots at £5 - £10 a week, even with the quadrupling in price there will be plenty of people clamoring for a plot.

[Growem]

Of course I get a benefit from having an allotment, but the benefits have very little to do with the ones I get from a health club. As for whether I only took it because it was cheap, no, I took it because it was close to home and available. I was told it was cheap because there isn't car access and it's quite open to vandalism and theft (it's in a park),

Until last year, there weren't plenty of people clamouring for a plot, there were in fact several empty ones. I don't know how long the waiting list is, but it can't more than a few names.

[zazen999]

Have you asked why the rents have increased?

Ours has gone from £5 the year before I got one, to £15 to £25 - a 500% increase but in the greater scheme of things it's still a bargain.

They see allotments as a cash cow now, these councils - and alot are trying to bump the fees up to get a little income; you can't really blame them. If they feel that the costs of managing the site have increased due to being full with lots more allotment holders; then perhaps that's why the rents have increased...and with so many on the list it really is money for very little....as if the current holders don't like it, then they can leave and the next person can have it....is their thinking I suspect.

I'd be more worried about next year to be honest....

[binley100]

Our allotments are run by our association who pays an annual rent to the council , our plot is classed as a half plot at 1/16th acre (can't remember the poles/rods) and we pay £23 per year. They haven't increased in price for the last few years so I sort of expect it next year, even so it's still a good deal .

[Jeanied]

My plot is not a full sized plot - 22 metres long by about 5 metres wide - and I think it is around £36 a year. There is a water trough on my plot - overall about 8 on the site. The council increased the charges because they installed new gates and a composting toilet. There are such long waiting lists that they are chucking people off now, for not maintaining their plots. Next I think they will go for people who have more than one plot, and start splitting the plots into two.
Still a good deal as far as I'm concerned - keeps me fit (ish) and provides a lot of my veggies!!

[Alison]

Mine was about £14 the first year I had it (although I only had to pay half as I got it half way through the year) and went up to over £20 (£23 rings a bell but that could be wrong) this year which is a fair hike if you look at it in percentage terms although not really much actually, especially if you think of it price per week.. The reasons given on the letter was that they were bringing the rents in line with the other ones in Warrington, despite the fact that the main council ones tend to have some facilities which we don't have. I'm not bothered as it still is very cheap and far cheaper than any other way I could get land.

[Mrs Dobby]

£45 a year per plot here in Trafford (half price for OAP's), plus subs, for which you get a secure site, water from taps and a cabin with loo in it. Its not cheap, but its still a bargain IMHO!

I'd not worry about the % increase in price, it may seem steep, but with waiting lists growing massively for allotments, and pressures on the councils to make savings / increase revenue, its hardly surprising that rents have gone up, mind you £20 still sounds like a bargain compared with our prices! Lol!

[SarzWix]

Ours leapt from £14 a year to £30 a couple of years ago, and has gone up again this year to £33. This is mostly going from the Association to the parish council in rent, and we get nack all for it - no water, no security etc etc. If I was you, I'd be expecting that to go up again next year

[Keith2202]

It will be a massive leap in % terms as the base cost is so low. A 50p increase would be a 50% increase!

[rana]

We had been paying £1 per pole until now and it's gone up now to £4 per pole. ....................It is pretty cheap for a fenced-in site that has running water available, but I also think it's an extremely large jump in the price - 400% increase!

What do others think?

#

I think It's a 300% increase...................

At £4 a pole I suspect you are barely covering the cost of water, let alone any ground rent.

[chris]

£1.66 a month seems a bargain to me

I'd pay £10/month for a plot near us, of decent size with decent facilities... probably even more I'm not sure. Be thankful you have a plot!

[Snadger]

The first year I got my two plots they were £20 each per year. The next year £25,the next year £30,the next year £40!

Thankfully last years rent was just £80 for the two for the second successive year. Hopefully it will stay capped for a few years yet.

I do know, from my time as Secretary, that the committe need to apply to the council if they wish to raise the rents per 10 rod plot above the £50 theshold!