[uktitan]

OK i live in a council house and keep chickens in my back garden, have done for about 18months now.. I got permission from a council inspector that came out to keep them, and asked how many we could have, Now he told us As many as we have room to Comfortably keep without being cramped, but NO cockerels.

Now some swine ( our spiteful next door neighbor who we THOUGHT was a friend) who also happens to keep chickens. Reported us to the council saying that we have several cockerels, Well over 25 hens, and we are building a duck pond. Now the council want to come out and inspect out property and this new housing lady keeps trying to bully why wife and saying we are breaking out tenant agreement by having more then 6 chickens, But Ive looked at my tenant agreement that we signed, and even the updated one online and cant find ANYTHING stating a Limit on the number we can have..Ive Searched everywhere for a Leaflet or Anything and cant find anything..

Does anyone in the Know, Know where we might find anything stating how many we can have or know what we should do? my wife is in tears at the thought of giving up Any of our girls.

[Ice]

I think it is up to your housing officer to show YOU where it says you may only have six hens in your tenancy agreement.  Also, could you contact the inspector that you first spoke to.

Just out of curiosity, how many hens do you have?

[uktitan]

we have a total of 20 but are getting rid of 4 or 5, we have 0 cockerels, 0 ducks and NO duck pond and no plans to build one.

[joyfull]

if there is nothing in your house lease then invite the officer around show them your set up and how you keep them - show them you animal husbandry methods, cleaning regime etc. If they are clean and well cared for then I can't see any problems 

[uktitan]

Thanks for your reply's, I hope that all will be ok. Fingers crossed

[Carla]

Dont be too scared of the council...let them come round, providing the gardens tidy, no chicken poo everywhere, your chooks aren't overcrowded, nothing to attract vermin (main bone of contention) and low noise, they cant argue. If they say you have to reduce the amount you have, nothing will change that, but if they see how well they are cared for, then they might be lenient. I have 3 in my council garden, soon to be 5 when I let the babies out, but I dont think I'll get many more (and my garden is gigantic for a council house), people are spiteful and I'd hate to get attatched and have to lose some.
You could always hide some at a friends house for the day of the visit...but I didnt tell you that

[Yorkie]

Legally, the law (from memory, I think it's s.12 Allotments Act 1950) appears to state that as long as your chickens do not cause any nuisance (i.e. noise, smells, rats etc) then you cannot be prevented from keeping them irrespective of anything in the lease for your council house.

There is no maximum limit in the Act; if you cannot find anything in your lease then I can't see how the council can arbitrarily place a limit on you.  The only basis for their placing restrictions on you would be the nuisance criteria.

Cockerels are not permitted but, as you say, you don't have any so you've nothing to worry about on that particular score.

If specific complaints have been made about your hens' behaviour, ask for details (times, dates) to see if there is any substance in them and, if so, whether you can take any steps to ameliorate the problem.

[jinty1911]

I think it depends a lot on the noise aspect.  I had to get rid of my 2 oldest girls because of the racket they were making.  I didn't wait for the council to come round because when the neighbours started complaining, I knew that them bok bok borrrrkkkking from 6.40am every morning was not funny. So far the other girls have been quiet (fingers crossed).

[freckledbeck]

We had a similar problem in the house we lived in before, but theres nothing the council (or housing association) can do about the number of hens you keep.
Our spiteful ex neighbour progressed to complaining to the environmental health officer, who visited, then left praising how we managed our birds.
I honestly wouldnt worry. (although I know how difficult that is, we ended up moving to get away from our horrible neighbour)
We currently have 6 bantams and 6 ducks in our garden, and have done so for over 5 years with no complaints (we did have 4 ex batts too but they are now at the allotment because they were bullying our dog).
As soon as your Housing Officer sees you have no cockerels and are not building a duck pond, Im sure they will take the other allegations with a very large pinch of salt.
Good luck!  

[pekinpete]

it seems as your  neighbours actions are a bit double standard if she also keeps chickens by the way how many birds does she have and what condition are they keep,ask her how she is able to have birds and complaines about yours it might be a good argument to mention to them.

[uktitan]

Yorkie, your memory is Top notch, you were spot on! we have printed out the whole 1950 allotments act, and highlighted the relevant section.....JUST in case 

[Dominic]

your tenancy agreement isnt relavent, it can no more say you cant keep chickens than say you can sell your kids.
The government says you can keep hens, end of.

[hamstergbert]

Surely the terms of a tenancy agreement trump a 'global' right, if explicitily defined?  Or are you averring that if someone rents out a property to a tenant with a clause in the lease expressly forbidding keeping poultry on the premises then the tenant can simply ignore that contractual clause and stick the proverbial two fingers up to the owner?

I know the legal system in this country is lunatic but that does seem a little excessive....

Or might the provisions of the allotments act  extend only to allotments and not gardens attached to dwellings?

[uktitan]

After Reading the Allotment act as pointed out by Yorkie (thanks m8) 

Since it is a Parliamentary Act it Overrules ALL other laws Except European Law.
I asked a solicitor about it and was told this also. Also they stated this covers most ANY land garden etc BUT, Only for Personal use only, Not for commercial Etc  where different laws apply.

They also said they can't impose a maximum limit either, The only ones who can are Defra or the RSPCA under Some welfare act or something (cramped conditions Etc) So it looks like, as long as i have the Correct amount of Space for how ever many birds i want to have and the correct housing Etc Etc there is nothing they can do unless they cause a nusance (Noisey) or a health risk (attracting rats or pooping in a public area) My 3 cats take care of any rodents that may be around lurking, they don't go in public places so i don't have to worry about that and my girls aint very noisy either.

[Yorkie]

I went into a bit more detail about this provision in reply 10 on  this thread.

An Act of Parliament does override anything in lesser legislation or documents.

Although the Act is called the Allotments Act, the structure of the Act, and the way the preamble introduction is written, indicates that s.12 is not intended to apply only to allotments.

Also, s.12 explicitly states that the right to keep hens and rabbits exists, irrespective of any provisions in any lease or other land-related document.

All that being said, I am not aware of the provision being tested in the courts ...