Allotment Rents

[SMP1704]

I Pay £5.50 per rod - £55 for a 10 rod plot, although I suspect the actual size is closer to 7 rods.  For that we get a key and access to water tanks as standard. 

The contractors are making a real effort to bring the area up to scratch, so in 2009 we also two skips, loads of woodchip, two plots cleared and the japanese knotweed finally sprayed (a 3 year plan)  In 2010, we will have the whole site baited for rats and the association will take control of the two cleared plots, renting them out as smaller plots at £35 each after the contractor has levelled and laid paths using reclaimed paving slabs.

Pretty good deal I think.

[SMP1704]

[kt.]

ktlawson, are your plots full or half plots.

Don't worry about converting to £/pole if you don't know - if you say how big and how much I'll do the math, and I'll post a summary in a bit.

My 2 are both classed as full plots.  Have not got a scooby clue how many sq feet/metres per rod/pole

[Bill Door]

I have a half plot and pay £15 a year.  Water is included.  Council owned site and little input in  the up keep.

Bill

[Unwashed]

Hi Bill, can you say what the area is of your half plot so we can make a comparison.

[Sparkly]

£37 for 10 pole.

Forgot to say that this is including all costs and water.

[Bill Door]

Sorry it is about 23 feet by 35 to 40 feet.  I have not measured the length but there are 23 of my size 12 boots across the width.  I also know it isn't too far for me to walk end to end.  :o))))))

Bill

[Unwashed]

Story so far - and please keep posting, because the more rents we compare the clearer the picture is:

Average rent is £4.74/pole (eg, that's £23.71 for a 5 pole plot).
Lower quartile is £3.70/pole (eg, that's £18.50 for a 5 pole plot).
Upper quartile of £5.50 (that's £27.50 for a 5 pole plot).

Not every site charges per pole, and some sites include fees and subs on top of the plot so it's not always easy to make a direct comparison, so I've compared the standard all-in cost of a five-pole plot as that's a reasonably representative size of plot.

There's obviously quite a range of rents and you'll probably want to know whether your own rent is cheap or expensive compared to everyone else, and the quartile range is a statistical way of defining that acceptable range.

These are the raw rents as £/pole so far:

£2.20   ktlawson
£2.93   TeeGee    
£3.40   Trevor_D
£3.70   Sparkly  
£3.80   tonybloke
£4.12   Bill Door
£4.40   Squash64
£4.71   Unwashed  
£5.50   manicscousers
£5.50   SMP1704
£6.00   PurpleHeather
£6.75   Digeroo  
£8.63   brian4951

[PurpleHeather]

Re size of plot question.

We inherited from the council a mish mash of plot sizes and shapes for that matter the whole site is a funny shape to start with.

The largest plot size is well over 80 feet by 40 feet the smallest will be just over half that, some are an odd triagular shape with a curve on one side.

Seems a Rod, Pole or Perch are the same and all equal to 5.5 yards or 5.03 metres 40 poles to a furlong and  there are 8 furlongs in a mile in case anyone wants to know.

You're welcome to come over and measure them all and work out the cost per square yard, feet, metre or nautical mile any time you like but I am not doing it.

[Digeroo]

I am actually pleased that mine is not so bad compared with the average to date.  I have certainly had more than my fair share of manure.  What with the red kite, jays, robins, herons, egrets, spindleberry and the wind through the poplar trees and the wonder of the willow snow and watching the cygnets and piglets growing up, there are somethings that are beyond price, and a grandstand view of the red arrows four times a year.

[Tee Gee]

Interesting list that!

Its what I thougt it might be......no one knows what to charge these days so they tend to charge that which they will get away with  :P :'(

BTW? Is the calculation for my plot/s based on the full price (£19) or what I actually pay (£9-50) per plot?

[heloise]

I have a 150 square yard plot, but it's a bit of an odd shape so I can't give dimensions exactly. There is water but it's a long way away at the other end of the site. For this I pay £7.50 a year, though I had to pay £25 deposit for the key. Oh, and we get free wood chippings.

[Unwashed]

TeeGee, I've compared standard rents without any discount, so if a 30' x 60' plot is let at £19.00 I've assumed that a five pole plot would be let at £14.66 pro-rata, and that gives a comparison rate of £2.93/pole.  Is that the right rent for a five pole plot at your site, or would it still be £19.00?

[Twoflower]

How many poles to the foot?  I have a 300 Sq. foot plot or  0.25 of a rood and for this i pay £76.45  plus water Which this year is £11.20. I think this must be one of the top rates in the country. The old blokes on site say that the rate until three years ago way only about £20 or £30 a year and then the council wanted them off the site so they could build on it, so put the rents up. We are now in the allotment union!!! :-\

[Tee Gee]

Is that the right rent for a five pole plot at your site, or would it still be £19.00?

All of our plots are approx the same size (60ft x 30 ft) which is roughly 6.6 poles (as you will know) and the rents for each are the same, except for the half plots which as you would expect 'half price'! (£9-50)

There are three  half plots, two of which a down to the shape of the site(it narrows at the top end) and another behind the communal hut (plot 19)

On average we have a stand pipe between every two plots.

This is a view of the plots last June;

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Slide%20Shows/Allotments/allotments.html

[Unwashed]

How many poles to the foot?  I have a 300 Sq. foot plot or  0.25 of a rood and for this i pay £76.45  plus water Which this year is £11.20. I think this must be one of the top rates in the country. The old blokes on site say that the rate until three years ago way only about £20 or £30 a year and then the council wanted them off the site so they could build on it, so put the rents up. We are now in the allotment union!!! :-\

Hi Twoflower, a rood is 1/4 acre, or 40 pole, so a 1/4 rood plot is 10 pole, or 302.5 sq yards, not 300 sq feet.

The pole, perch, rod, and lug are equivelent - 5.5 yards as a measurement of length, and 5.5 yards square as a measurement of area.  The units are used for both length and area which might seem a little confusing, but it's usually obvious what you're talking about.

So if you pay £76.45 for 10 poles, that's £7.65/pole - quite expensive, but not ridiculous.

Ed: sorry, forgot about the water charge!  That's £8.77/pole - congratulations, you're the winner!

[tonybloke]

2.20   ktlawson
£2.93   TeeGee    
£3.40   Trevor_D
£3.70   Sparkly  
£3.80   tonybloke
£4.12   Bill Door
£4.40   Squash64
£4.71   Unwashed  
£5.50   manicscousers
£5.50   SMP1704
£6.00   PurpleHeather
£6.75   Digeroo  
£8.63   brian4951

Unwashed, your maths is a bit dodgy!!


quote "So, for a  ten rod plot, with water and admin = £29 for the year ;)  " quote

my maths makes that £2.90 per rod, inc water and admin.

I have 2 x 10 rod plots, therefore; 20 x £2 + 2 x £6 (water) + ! x £3 (admin) = £55 for 20 rod; 1 rod =£2.75.

some of our sites have no water, thereforeto rent 10 rod = £20 + £3 admin = £23 total or £2.30 per rod.
on same site, 20 rod would cost £40 + £3 admin = £43 total or  £2.15 per rod.

hope that makes sense?

[Unwashed]

Hi Tony, see what I've said here about the basis of the comparison:

Not every site charges per pole, and some sites include fees and subs on top of the plot so it's not always easy to make a direct comparison, so I've compared the standard all-in cost of a five-pole plot as that's a reasonably representative size of plot.

So from what you've said a 5 pole plot on one of your sites with water would cost £10 + £6 + £3 = £19.00 giving a comparable pole rate of £3.80.  On a site without water it'll be £2.60 so I'll add a line for that.

Choosing a different basis for comparison will change the comparison, so sites will rank differently compared on the basis of a 10 or 20 pole plot, but I figure 5 poles is a pretty popular size so that's the size I used for the comparison.

[tonybloke]

Hi Tony, see what I've said here about the basis of the comparison:

Not every site charges per pole, and some sites include fees and subs on top of the plot so it's not always easy to make a direct comparison, so I've compared the standard all-in cost of a five-pole plot as that's a reasonably representative size of plot.

So from what you've said a 5 pole plot on one of your sites with water would cost £10 + £6 + £3 = £19.00 giving a comparable pole rate of £3.80.  On a site without water it'll be £2.60 so I'll add a line for that.

Choosing a different basis for comparison will change the comparison, so sites will rank differently compared on the basis of a 10 or 20 pole plot, but I figure 5 poles is a pretty popular size so that's the size I used for the comparison.

out of over 1,000 plots in our association, about 6 of them are 5 rod!! the rest are mostly 10 rods, or multiples of.

[Unwashed]

out of over 1,000 plots in our association, about 6 of them are 5 rod!! the rest are mostly 10 rods, or multiples of.

I think that's unusual now.  I think new tenants will be lucky to get 5 pole, and many new allotenteers don't want that much.

Like I say, I need to use a common basis for the comparison and I figured 5 poles was reasonable, but I'll see if I can make a 10-pole comparison too.

[Sparkly]

We have full and half plots - 10 and 5 pole. Probably 90% of the plots are 10 pole, although there does seem to be a trend of splitting plots that become vacant.