How much does your plot cost?

[TheChemist]

£21 for one year. No other charges.

Free water. No other facilities!

[jamesanddee]

I have 2 plots, about 1/3 acre each. Our first plot costs £11.50 a year but has no running water. Second plot has running water and costs us £0.00 a year.

[1Bee]

Full plot £20 a year; half plot £15 a year. Water on site, no other facilities.

[steve casson]

allotment costs

hi have just aquired a half plot at £17 per year but obviouslyit does vary from site tosite and locatoinwise

[WendyC]

but obviouslyit does vary from site tosite and locatoinwise

Definitely - just have a scroll through this thread.

[Colin2948]

In Cardiff a 10 perch plot is £112 for the year subsidised for over 60 I believe. A brick cubicle shed is £25 per year. Luckily our site has toilet facilities and a shop the has good prices. Water on site also. The local authority are looking to go to self sufficiency for all sites in the area but I am not sure if they will release all of the money to each site.

[ndever]

Mine is in south east Kent, £17 for 5 rod (I think that's what it is!). £3 returnable deposit for key. Water is provided. Large well locked gate and fence. Portakabin / shop, only open Sunday am's when I am not there. Stocks seed and can hire beastly ancient rotavator (words of existing plot holders, not mine! Local stables delivers manure, first come first served basis. Portakabin toilets, never used them as they are currently 'closed due to misuse', and I have only had my allotment for two weeks. I believe community service types do some general path/grass maintenance. Someone has bees on site. The vicar apparently comes twice a year as he has filled his plot with fruit trees. I have nothing on my plot but sheds and greenhouses are allowed from what I have seen. I am surprised at the differences nationwide in price and amenities available!

[Amandaod]

I pay £10 for the year, and £5 for my key. I'll be honest, I have no idea how big my plot is - I haven't measured it just yet. It nicely came with a shed (Though they all don't, just so happened the previous person on the plot said I could keep it).
We don't have toilets (women all have *cough* something organised, I'm told). We don't have fresh water, however everyone has plenty of water butts and we do live in Scotland after all!

[Bonsai Si]

Uppingham in Rutland.

I recently moved into a new Flat, and on the off chance thought I'd see if I could get on the waiting list for a lottie. I was utterly gobsmacked to find out their were multiple plots up for grabs on BOTH the sites in the town.

I picked a 250m x 5m plot on the larger site for the whopping price of £25 per year.

Water supply one plot over (One of the reasons I picked the plot I did to be honest!) included in the price.

The plot I have taken on has been unused for at least 2 or 3 years, it's run riot with weed and I was offered no discount due to it's state. I was told after I might have been able to get the local council to come napalm the plot with weedkiller, but by that point I'd already nuked most of the site myself...

No facilities other than water, no secure fencing as there is a public path running down the side of the allotments. No toilet, which is a bit of a pain really.
I only live a few minutes away by car but it's a bit of a faff, so hoping to get my shed up ASAP so I can at least go whizz in a bottle in private if needed on a long day down the lottie, lol.

Local Authority run/managed site, no sheds over 6x4 without permission (I asked for a 7x5 and was told no which was a bugger as someone kindly gave me one, grrrr), polytunnels allowed, bees allowed, think chickens may be allowed also but no cockerels I'm guessing. Main pathways are mowed by someone, though to be honest I'm sure they must have been plastered when they did it the other week, not a straight line to be seen, but it adds character and gives us something to laugh about between weeding.

No trees allowed; but as one of my intentions is to use a good chunk of the plot for growing Bonsai it's more about full size trees and orchards I'd guess.

There is a small lane running down to the Allotments, and a small area to park a few cars, the large gate to the plots is locked (still not found out if you can get a key for it in case you need to drive onto the plots.)

No associations or structured community but I've run into most of my plot neighbours and they all so far are a nice bunch. May settle myself in and then see if people would like to open up the services we could potentially get by organising a little bit.

I'll be utterly honest, all that for £25 a year is mind bending. I thought it was going to set me back a mint for that much land. (Rutland is an insanely expensive county.)

Several of the lottie owners on my site have 4 plots on the go! I'll definitely be seeing about getting another 1 at least once I finish turning mine from Downtown Beirut into something fit for purpose. As it stands the plots either side of me have been overjoyed I've taken my plot on as it was getting to the point the weeds and seeds were really starting to cause them issues, so they have been lovely to me!

Highly interested thread and reading, thanks for sharing.

[Busman]

Sheffield allotments

My half plot in Sheffield is 160sq metres, with a water supply between April and October, for which I pay the princely sum of £60 per year - this is after a 25% reduction for being over 60. There are a number of rules and regulations, as you would expect, but nothing too onerous.

[Mattchewone]

I have just acquired one, West Sussex, I am told it is 2.5 rods and I am paying £15.45pa plus £10pa for water and member to member insurance, plus a £10 refundable key deposit.
There is water near my plot which is nice, but no on-site facilities. I believe they have an annual delivery of manure which I believe everyone chips in for and gets 20 wheel barrows worth each.
Only picked up the keys yesterday and need to get on and get it ready for next year.

[Jarz]

I'm in East London and our rates - which were increased in April - (for my particular site with its amenities) are:

5 rods - £42
1 rod - £8.50

Concessions (over 60 + card)

5 rods - £21.50
1 rod £4.30

My raised bed is classed as 2 rods so my yearly rent would be £8.60.

We have a tap with free water, and water tanks dotted all over the site (which apparently has about 140 plots, a wildlife area, a trading shed open weekends, 11-2 Feb - Oct (I'm on the Committee), and the shed is run purely by volunteers. We hire out mowers, and have seeds, many fertilisers sold from out of bins, plus liquid tomato feed and seaweed. Other stock includes slug pellets, and canes, which fly off the shelves. (Or out of the cart.) Seed potatoes and onions.

Oops, forgot to add. We have a proper toilet which is cleaned by volunteers. Though soap and paper disappears on a regular basis.

I set up a Facebook page 3 years ago which has proved very popular, and there is also a general one for our town, which a few of us belong to.

Council run. Enclosed by high fencing, gate with padlock, but on two sides borders the backs of gardens. People still access the site by these gardens, or somehow climb over the fence, so we DO suffer a lot of theft/damage. Bee hives were introduced a few years ago.

The Committee organises the delivery of black compost and someone else manages to get hold of manure, the last delivery of which coincided with a planned black compost so we weren't able to get the latter. We also have problems with lorry access down the road due to cars parked both sides, and the company are getting shirty with us. As if it's our fault we've had a couple of failed deliveries, but their lorries are simply too big and wide.

The Council did a massive clearing up project earlier this year, sending out huge diggers to some sites, including ours, and razing unrented plots to the ground, including any shed or structure that was on it. People on the waiting list were delighted to be given a clear bed, though some old timers said it was the wrong thing to do. The vehicles also caused much damage to our paths, and to some plots. Ooops.

I absolutely agree about an allotment site being a wonderful place to relax on, just listening to birds chirruping. Sometimes you get mouthy residents from the nearby housing estate piercing the peace and quiet! That aside, I often take a packed lunch, flask of coffee, something to read, and just sit about unwinding, and talking to anyone who walks past.

And sometimes I work on my 2 rods...

[Jarz]

And to add.

If someone remembers to bring milk, when the shop is open, plot holders are able to make a tea or a coffee, and we keep drinks in the fridge. Again, I will just sit and chat with whoever is working in the shop (which includes myself when on the rota), and it whiles away a couple of hours. Great fun.

[b0oDy]

Just got one here in Woodley, Berkshire and I was lucky there were some plots available with no waiting list. I got 5 poles for £38.5 a year and £5 for the keys plus £4 annual for water. The allotement is fenced with secure key and we have a shared storage area with a toilet (useful for my 6 years daughter mainly when she joins). Water is supplied and over all it's good. My plot came with a nice shed that need some repairing but it's free and a few fruit trees that can be revived. Haven't met my neighbours yet but looking forward to.

[Tiny Allotment]

We pay £40 a year for a 7.5m x 7.5m plot with a £20 deposit.

We have water on site and a toilet and a decent size gravel carpark but the lane to the allotment was not being maintained and the whole place was untidy.

A few of the plot holders got together to form an allotment association to maintain the lane etc. The association has now grown and around 90% of the plot holders are members and pay £12 a year to be a member.

We have organised many discounts for members with local suppliers, we have arranged for regular deliveries of manure and the association has brought a very welcome social scene to the allotments.

We have regular working parties to get specific jobs done followed by a BBQ and plant swap and i brew a barrel of beer and it is very pleasant.

We have an allotment because we are of no fixed abode so we do not have a garden but now, even if we did have a garden i would keep the allotment because of the social side.

I have made some really good friends at the allotment and now we have a hard core of members who will help out anyone who needs it.

We have been given a large 'community plot' by the owners of the land and this is now becoming the focus of the association. It will be where we hold BBQs, we have a remembrance orchard, a pond, bog garden, trial area etc.

It is a fantastic place to be and well worth the money

paul