Proposed Edinburgh Council Rent Increases
Edinburgh Council has just proposed their 2015/16 budget. As you'll be aware the city has a significant funding shortfall and seeks to increase revenue to pay for services.
Currently the total annual rental collected from all allotments across the city is £80,355. Most of this is used to pay for the allotment service and maintain existing sites. It is important to note that this funding now runs at a surplus.
Annual fees for allotments have risen gradually over the last five years from £54 in 2009 for a full allotment plot to the current level of £100. This increase was negotiated by our city-wide Federation who made an agreement with the Council to increase rents in order that allotment provision be improved. This has been a great success and was welcomed as a responsible way of paying for allotment upkeep. Unlike Edinburgh, most cities run allotments at a loss.
The agreement also stated that no increases would take effect until 2020 when increases based on inflation would be allowed.
Now Edinburgh Council want to increase their income from allotments by £150,000 a year. That’s an increase from £80,000 to £230,000. Put simply - allotments are to become a method of revenue generation.
This is copied from the Council's own proposal...
"Therefore to raise an additional £150,000 will require an average increase of £105 per plot/half plot. However, if concessions are to be retained at existing proportions then the full rental rate would need to be around £300 per plot."
Currently the total annual rental collected from all allotments across the city is £80,355. Most of this is used to pay for the allotment service and maintain existing sites. It is important to note that this funding now runs at a surplus.
Annual fees for allotments have risen gradually over the last five years from £54 in 2009 for a full allotment plot to the current level of £100. This increase was negotiated by our city-wide Federation who made an agreement with the Council to increase rents in order that allotment provision be improved. This has been a great success and was welcomed as a responsible way of paying for allotment upkeep. Unlike Edinburgh, most cities run allotments at a loss.
The agreement also stated that no increases would take effect until 2020 when increases based on inflation would be allowed.
Now Edinburgh Council want to increase their income from allotments by £150,000 a year. That’s an increase from £80,000 to £230,000. Put simply - allotments are to become a method of revenue generation.
This is copied from the Council's own proposal...
"Therefore to raise an additional £150,000 will require an average increase of £105 per plot/half plot. However, if concessions are to be retained at existing proportions then the full rental rate would need to be around £300 per plot."
Inverleith, like all allotment sites in the city, feel that an increase of this size is unfair and unreasonable. It will mean that a small group of 1,429 citizens (many of them low waged or pensioners) will be required to pay almost three times their current rent. Estimated at £287 per year.
As a comparison - Glasgow Council currently charge £34.50 annual rent for a full plot.
Allotments are important as they help Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Government meet targets for social inclusion, healthy population and sustainability.
They must be affordable and available to all sections of society. If this increase is allowed to happen allotments will exclude the very people they were created to help.
Write to your Councillor, a sample letter can be found here which you are welcome to copy and tailor to what you want to say.
An online petition is also now available - please sign it and add your own comments.