Anyone with an allotment?

Our council charge £200 a year for a full (10 rods) plot and there is a waiting list of 29.
There are quite a few vacant/derelict plots and have been for years. The council send out a warning letter to them so rather than lose their plot they spend a day strimming the overgrown stuff down and as long as the annual £200 is paid thats it.
Council haven't the resources to press the issue .

I was waiting 2 years in Waltham Forest. My plot that I got last week was vacant 4yrs+ there’s still multiple derelict plots on this site....

Interesting that they don't seem to have the funding to get all those cleared in one job lot. But yes, that explains why you're the only taker for so long. You could conceivably establish a little empire by taking on all the others (or they could pay you ...). :)