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Allotment rents in Bristol set to rise every year
Allotment rents have been hiked 12 months after Bristol City Council approved the controversial rises – and they are now set to go up every year.
Bills detailing the increases agreed in October 2024 by the public health and communities committee, which were less than originally proposed following a huge campaign by plot-holders, have been sent out to tenants in their annual invoices.
Members voted for annual rent for a small plot size of 75 to 149 square metres, the most common type in Bristol, to go up from £50 to £66 without water or £76 with water.
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The initial proposal was for this to soar to £79 without water or £89 with water, prompting a backlash from allotmenteers – and a rethink by civic chiefs – because it would have meant a rise of 78 per cent for plots with water, while the cost of some other bigger allotments were set to more than double.
Now, as part of Bristol City Council’s annual 2026/27 draft budget consultation, the authority has published a plan for annual, but much smaller, increases which would raise an extra £30,000 a year.
These are understood to be in line with inflation, a move that was prompted because until this month’s rises, plot rents had been frozen since 2018, which is why they have gone up so much now, boosting council coffers by £116,000 a year before the proposed new yearly increases.
That will pay for a new allotment officer tasked with improving services, according to last year’s committee vote.
When councillors met in August 2024, they rejected the initial larger rent hikes after some plot-holders warned they would have to give up their land.
They formed a campaign threatening a rent strike and raised a 6,800-name petition that led to a debate at full council and an ultimate climbdown by the local authority.
Adam Postans is a local democracy reporter for Bristol
Main photo: Molly Owens
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