The English allotment lottery

Growing your own has exploded in popularity in recent years and waiting lists for council allotments are soaring.

But finding out how exactly long allotment waiting lists are everywhere in the country is a mammoth data task.

Margaret Campbell and the National Society for Allotment and Leisure Gardeners have produced a report on allotment waiting lists (PDF) highlighting that although the data is difficult to obtain and should be treated with caution, waiting lists remain very high and extremely high in some places in 2011.

This waiting list data only shows information for those sites for which councils had data. Moreover, 32 councils have reported that they have closed their lists altogether, and are no longer collecting data.

Through freedom of information requests we've obtained additional allotment related details for 323 councils. Of the councils that relied 107 were not responsible for or had no allotments.

For the 216 that did, we have processed rent data for 93% so far, standardising traditional land measurements (perches/rods/poles) still widely used to p/sqm.

Analysing the data we found:

• the average cost of allotments has gone up by 21% over three years
  the 32 councils that have closed their waiting lists haven't got longer lists than average
• on average there's one person waiting for each plot in England
  In 2008 rents varied between 1p/sqm (Bolsover and Chesterfield) to 52p/sqm in South LakeLand, with the average being 15p
• In 2011 only Bolsover still charges 1p/sqm, although South Lakeland was the only council to reduce rents (50p/sqm) it remains one of the most expensive councils in the country, with Runnymede the most expensive at 55p/sqm
• Between 2008 and 2011 27 councils did not increase rents, 91 councils kept their rent increases under 20%, and 60 councils increased by more than 20%
• Chesterfield, Hertsmere, Knowsley, Lambeth, Islington, Brent and Cannon Chase raised rents by 100% or more, but four remain close to the national average charges, with Islington, Brent and Cannock Chase charging far more than this

It is the rents for 2012, however, where we will probably see significant changes once the full picture emerges. Birmingham is one such example where the standard rent of £28 per plot (11p/sqm) currently is likely to go up to £60 (24p/sqm) next year and proposed rent rises are currently heavily disputed by plot holders.

Changes to tenancy agreements may also highlight what lies ahead for the future of allotments in years to come. Although we are still completing our full analysis of these agreements, it is clear that some are making potentially far-reaching changes after limited or no consultation. The new agreement (PDF) for Tameside (Greater Manchester) for example highlights this new plot use clause:

For the purposes of excluding compensation for improvements under section 47 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 the Tenant must not plant on the Plot: (a) standard or other fruit trees permanently set out; (b) fruit bushes (c) strawberry plants; (d) asparagus, rhubarb, and other vegetable crops which continue productive for two or more years. (5.11)

What does this mean for allotment owners?

People are strongly discouraged from planting fruit trees because the council does not want to get into discussions over compensation once the tenant leaves? Or does planting fruit on your plot breach the agreement so that you are thrown off? How this will be enforced is unclear, but with 32 councils highlighting that they will make further changes to agreements and another 12 saying they might, this is worth keeping a close eye on as sweeping changes to the future of allotments in the UK may well be in the small print.

The ongoing story of allotment data is on this website. We also have data in a Google spreadsheet and interactive map for you to explore here.

Data summary

Download the data

• DATA: download the full spreadsheet

More data

Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian

World government data

• Search the world's government data with our gateway

Development and aid data

• Search the world's global development data with our gateway

Can you do something with this data?

• Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group
• Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk

• Get the A-Z of data
• More at the Datastore directory
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook