Guides / Waiting lists

How to run an allotment waiting list

Demand for plots has outstripped supply for years, and on popular sites the waiting list is the most politically sensitive document the committee holds. Run it well and nobody thinks about it. Run it loosely and it becomes the source of every row on site. Here is how to keep it clean, fair and defensible.

The one rule that matters

Date order, applied without exception. First come, first served is not the only defensible system (some sites give priority to their own parish's residents, where the constitution says so), but whatever your rule is, it must be written down, published, and applied identically to everyone. The fastest way to destroy trust in a committee is a plot that goes to someone's brother-in-law ahead of position one.

Setting the list up properly

• Record the essentials only: name, contact details, date of application, and plot size wanted. You are holding personal data, so hold the minimum (more on GDPR below).
• Acknowledge every application with the person's position and a rough idea of the wait. "You are number 14; in a normal year 4 to 6 plots turn over" manages expectations honestly.
• Publish how the list works on your noticeboard or website: the order rule, any priority rules, and how often you confirm interest.

Keeping it clean: the annual confirmation

An unmaintained waiting list rots. People move away, change email addresses, or quietly give up, and three years later the committee is making offers to ghosts while real applicants wait behind them. Once a year, write to everyone on the list and ask them to confirm they still want a plot. Give a fair deadline and one chase, then remove non-responders. Record the confirmation date against each name so you can show the process was followed.

Making an offer

1. Offer the plot to the highest eligible position, in writing, with a deadline to respond (one to two weeks is typical).
2. Show them the actual plot before they commit. A neglected plot accepted sight-unseen becomes next year's neglected plot.
3. If they decline or lapse, note it and move to the next name. Two or three declines is a reasonable point at which to move someone to the bottom or ask if they want to stay listed.
4. When they accept: tenancy agreement signed, first rent collected (pro-rata if you bill on a fixed year), and only then keys and a welcome.

The GDPR bit, briefly

A waiting list is personal data, so the basics apply even to a small association: collect only what you need, tell people what you will use it for, keep it somewhere reasonably secure rather than forwarded around personal inboxes, and delete people who come off the list. None of this requires a consultant; it mostly requires tidiness.

Signs your list has outgrown the spreadsheet

• Applications arrive by phone, paper, email and word of mouth, and reconciling them is a job in itself.
• Nobody is sure whether position 7 ever replied to the last confirmation round.
• The secretary who keeps the list is the only person who understands it.