Legislation affected the maximum permitted plot size of allotments let under act of parliament. Under 2 Will IV c 42 (‘for the conversion of fuel allotments into gardens for the poor’), allotments could be no larger than an acre and no smaller than a quarter of an acre. The provision that allotments let under the act were not to be smaller than a quarter of an acre was repealed in 1873 by 36 Vict c 19. Under the General Enclosure Act of 1845 (8 and 9 Vict c 118), allotments provided as a result of enclosure under the act were not to be larger than a quarter of an acre. This was partially repealed by 39 and 40 Vict c 56 which allowed allotments created under the 1845 Act to be let in plots of up to an acre where it proved impossible to let them in plots of a quarter of an acre or less. Subsequent allotments acts also set limits to the size of plots that could be provided by public authorities under their provisions, but these fall outside the time period covered by this study.

However, the limitations on the size of allotments let under 2Will IV c 42 and 8 and 9 Vict c 118 should be put into context. Allotments provided by public authorities formed a small proportion of the total in the period 1793 to 1873.