Liverpool City Council agreement

All plot holders are required to sign a tenancy agreement with Liverpool City Council. 

The tenancy agreement will start from the date you sign your agreement until 31st December each year. The agreement will renew automatically each year as long as you pay your rent and society fee.

Each agreement with be signed a named plot holder who will automatically become a member of the Lister Drive Allotment Society. 

A tenancy agreement is signed by an authorised member of the Lister Drive Allotment Society committee on behalf of Liverpool City Council.

Tenancy Agreement for Lister Drive Allotments

BETWEEN THE LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL (hereinafter called “the Council”) acting by its City Solicitor of the one part and Plot Holder (hereinafter called “the Tenant) of the other part. 

1. The Council agrees to let and the Tenant agrees to take ALL THAT piece of land (hereinafter called “the plot”) at Lister Drive Allotment Area shown on the plan of the said Allotment Area and thereon numbered [designated plot number]  at the rent and subject to the conditions hereinafter mentioned. 

2. The tenancy shall commence on the [date] and continue until the 31st December next following at the yearly rent as from time to time is set by the Council (such rent or a proportionate part thereof from any part of a year be paid on the signing of this Agreement). And the tenancy shall thereafter continue from year to year at the said yearly rent which shall be payable in advance on the 1st day of January in every year until determined as hereinafter mentioned.

3. THE TENANT HEREBY AGREES with the Council as follows:
   a) to behave in a respectful and non - discriminatory way towards all other tenants in accordance with the values of Liverpool City Council;
   
   b) to pay the rent hereby reserved in advance and without deduction on the 1st day of January in each year to the Committee-in-Charge approved under Clause 4 hereof acting as agents for the Council;
   
   c) to become a member of the Society referred to in Clause 4 hereof and to pay any membership and charges payable to the Society as and when they become due;
   
   d) to use the plot as an allotment garden and for no other purpose whatsoever;
   
   e) to keep the plot clean from weeds pests and disease and otherwise maintain it in a good state of cultivation and fertility and good condition and to keep any pathway or cart track included therein or abutting thereon (or in the case of any pathway or cart track abutting on the plot and any other plot the half width thereof)  free from obstruction and reasonably free from weeds;
   
   f) to repair and maintain in tenantable condition any building structure fence rail or gate erected or at any time hereinafter to be erected on the plot;
   
   g) not without the written consent of the Council to erect a building structure fence rail or gate on the plot. The Council shall have the right to remove any building structure fence rail or gate erected without such consent and to reinstate the plot at the expense of the Tenant if after reasonable notice the Tenant fails to remove the same;
   
   h) not to use barbed wire for a fence adjoining any path set out by the Council for the use of the Tenant for the allotment gardens;
   
   i) not to plant any fruit tree or bush on the plot other than as may be approved by the Council and if so required by the Council to remove any fruit tree or bush which may be a nuisance or detrimental to the allotments;
   
   j) not without the consent of the Council to cut or prune specified trees on the plot or to take sell or carry away from the plot any mineral gravel sand or clay;
   
   k) to keep covered any manure or compost heap on the plot;
   
   l) to keep every hedge that forms part of the Tenants plot properly cut and trimmed to a height not exceeding 1.2 metres and to keep all streams water courses and ditches properly cleansed;
   
   m) not to erect walls of turf or earth on the plot;
   
   n) not to keep on the plot any animals livestock or birds except hens to the extent permitted by Section 12 of the Allotments Act 1950 ,subject to the attached guidance notes.
   
   o) not without the consent of the Council and the Committee-in-Charge to keep on the plot any bees and if agreed to be a member of a bona fide beekeeping society;
   
   p) not to bring or cause to be brought into the Allotment Area any dog unless the dog is under control;
   
   q) to secure and lock entrance gates to the Allotment Area immediately after use;
   
   r) not to assign sublet or otherwise part with the possession of the plot or any part thereof;
   
   s) not to carry on or permit to be carried on any trade or business on the plot;
   
   t) not to do or allow to be done anything which in the opinion of the Council shall be a nuisance or annoyance to any other tenant or to the occupiers of neighbouring dwelling houses;
   
   u) to permit at all reasonable times any member officer servant or authorised agent of the Council to enter on the plot for the purpose of inspecting the same or for carrying out work thereon on behalf of the Council;
   
   v) not to encroach or trespass on the plot of any allotment tenant nor to damage any property of the Council or the property or crops of any other tenant and any such damage committed by the Tenant shall be assessed by the Council and the Tenant shall pay the sum so assessed to the Council or to such other tenant as the Council shall determine;
   
   w) not to park any vehicle on any part of the Allotment Area except such parts as may be designated by the Committee-in-Charge or the Council or agents for this purpose;
   
   x) to observe and perform any other special conditions which the Council shall from time to time consider necessary for the good management of the Allotment and of which reasonable notice shall have been given to the Tenant;
   
   y) the Tenant shall notify the appropriate officer of the Council and Committee-in-Charge of any change of the Tenant’s address within 28 days after such change;
   
   z) upon the ending of the tenancy to remove from the plot all the Tenant’s personal property including crops plants trees bushes buildings and structures within 14 days of the end of the tenancy. If the Tenant shall fail to comply with the terms hereof the Committee-in-Charge shall become the owner of all such property and shall have the right to dispose of it as the Committee-in-Charge shall determine.
   
   

4.  The Tenant shall observe and perform all directions and instructions of the Committee-in-Charge appointed for the Allotment Area. The Committee-in-Charge shall mean those persons duly elected by the members of Lister Drive Allotment Society at the annual general meeting and approved by the Council under an Agreement for the purpose of managing and administering the Allotment Area on behalf of the Council with power to ensure that the terms of this Agreement with any special conditions herein before mentioned are observed and performed by the Tenant. 
   
   If after any requests the Tenant fails to comply the Committee-in-Charge shall issue to the Tenant a series of notices. This will take the form of a First Notice of Breach of Plot Agreement; Second and Final Notice of Breach of Plot Agreement. If the Tenant shall be aggrieved by any direction or instruction of the Committee-in-charge the Tenant may appeal to the Committee-in-Charge within 14 days of the receipt by the Tenant of notice of such direction or instruction.
   
   If the Committee-in-Charge upholds its previous notices then a final Recommendation for Service of Notice to Quit shall be requested of the Council by the Committee-in Charge.  A copy shall be sent to the Tenant and the Tenant has 14 days from receipt of the copy to appeal to the Council directly. Such direction instruction or notice given by the Committee-in-Charge shall remain in abeyance pending final disposal of the appeal.  After consideration of all the circumstances the Council’s decision will be final.
   
   

5. The Council agrees that the Tenant paying the said rent and observing the conditions herein contained shall quietly hold and enjoy the plot without any interruption by the Council. 

6. The Council shall not be liable for any loss or damage to any growing crops or other property of the Tenant whether caused by trespass theft or any other cause except loss or damage caused by an act or omission of the Council its servants or agents. 

7.  Any dispute arising between the Tenant and any other tenant of an allotment shall be referred for decision to the Committee-in-Charge as defined in clause 4 hereof.  If no Committee-in-Charge shall have been appointed for the Allotment Area, the Council and its Officers in accordance with the Complaints Procedure will resolve the matter and the Council decision shall be final. 

8. In the event of the death of the Tenant the tenancy shall end immediately. 

9. The tenancy may also be ended in any of the following ways: 

   1. by the Tenant giving to the Council not less than 6 months notice in writing; 

   2. by the Council by not less than 12 months notice in writing, expiring on or before the 6th day of April or on or after the 29th day of September in any year; 

   3. by re-entry by the Council at any time after giving 3 months previous notice in writing to the Tenant on account of the plot being required:
      (i) for any purpose (not being the use of the same for agriculture)for which it has been appropriated under any statutory provision: or
      (ii) for building or any other industrial purpose or for road or sewer necessary in connection with any of those purposes. 

   4.  by re-entry by the Council at any time after giving 1 months previous notice in writing to the Tenant and without compensation if:
      (i) the rent to any part thereof is in arrears for not less than 40 days whether legally demanded or not; or
      (ii) it appears to the Council that there has been breach of the conditions and agreements on behalf of the Tenant herein contained; or
      (iii) the Tenant becomes bankrupt or compounds with their creditors. 

10.  Any notices required to be given by the Council to the Tenant may be signed on behalf of the Council by the City Solicitor of the Council for the time being and shall be sufficiently served by leaving it at the Tenant’s last known address or if sent in a pre-paid letter to the Tenant at the address stated in this Agreement or (if the Tenant has given notice of any change of address) at the address at which the Tenant shall last have given notice or fixed on the plot or in some conspicuous place in the Allotment Area. 

11. Any notice required to be given by the Tenant to the Council shall be sufficiently given if signed by the Tenant and sent in a pre-paid letter addressed to the council's Parks & Allotments Development Officer, Liverpool City Council.