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Calls for ban on agency boards right across London

09 July 2010
Written by rosalind renshaw

Estate agency boards have returned to the streets of conservation areas in London’s Kensington and Chelsea after a 15-year ban expired.

The re-emergence of the For Sale and To Let signs in some of London’s finest streets have prompted fury among local residents.

Agents said the streets could be fairly targeted after the lapsing of the Regulation 7 restrictions first imposed in 1995, and said that once one firm put boards back up, the others had to follow or risk losing business.

It emerged that Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council wanted to renew the ban but there had been disagreement over how extensive it should be. Last year, it applied to extend the ban to 80% of its area, but the Secretary of State refused permission.

Other London boroughs, including Hammersmith and Fulham, Camden and Westminster, have also sought Regulation 7 controls.

Meanwhile the reappearance of boards in Kensington and Chelsea from the likes of Hamptons, Savills, Marsh & Parsons and Foxtons has prompted heritage groups to call for a blanket ban across the whole of central London.

Amanda Frame, chairman of the Kensington Society, said: “The more the boards go up, the more it shows they need to be controlled. The agents are cutting their own throats by putting them back up. It blights all areas, not just those with conservation status.”

Ian Dungavell, director of the Victorian Society, said the boards were “an anachronism” in the internet era.

The conservationists have an unlikely ally – in the form of an estate agent.

Ed Mead, of Douglas & Gordon, said: “My view is very strongly that boards should be banned – period.

“I think they are a blight and they are just used to advertise the agency. Why on earth, at a cost of £6 a board, should an agent be able to blight a street when everything is done on the web these days?

“A ban would get rid of much of the stigma attached to the estate agency industry.”

Boards – what are your views?

Comments

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    Two weeks ago I contacted four agencies to remove their boards as they have agreed the property is no longer on the market. The boards are still there!

    • 05 August 2010 13:19 PM
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    I'm sorry, but...

    What a load of cr*p. I actually think for sale signs are great. It shows there is movement in the market and allows the public to easily see which properties are available to buy or rent.

    I'm not an estate agent, so I understand that to most of you it's a marketing tool. But from a buyers perspective, I'm not really interested in who's marketing the property. i.e. which estate agent I'm going to have to deal with. Just that it's available.

    Over the years I and my family, if we're in the market for a new house will often just drive around an area we like and enquire with the homeowner where a sign is outside or call the number on the board.

    They are extremely valuable tools for your trade, marketing both the estate agent and the property itself at the same time.

    Kensington and Chelsea are only upset because most of the residents are multi millionaires who don't want people knowing their movements.

    Perhaps the argument to K&C council should be that estate agent fees will have to go up if you have to put more work in to market the property.

    Conservation area is a crap excuse. Madonna, Robbie Williams, Gerry Halliwell and the other superstars who all have homes in the borough just don't want people to know they are downsizing. But all they have to do is request from their agent not to put a board up if they don't want one.

    Simple.

    • 14 July 2010 01:30 AM
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    Eric
    I fully understand what you mean about the fly boards, but on numerous occasions over they years I have had boards put up outside a property which has lead to a call that has sold the property, also I have received lots of instructions from my sold boards, when you think a board cost less than £10 to buy and what max a £5 to erect then I really do consider them fantastic value, especially when you take in to account the cost of newspaper adverts and monthly subscription cost to rightmove etc

    • 12 July 2010 18:41 PM
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    I wondered how many people have had problems with boards yet saw the huge Tory, Labour and Lib Dem boards outside houses during the election, many of which were bigger than the T&C Planning Act allows - odd that.

    Personally, I would welcome a ban on boards for 2 reasons.

    1. It would save me a fortune.

    2. It would take away the advantage given to those who fly board and remove other agents boards illegally.

    • 12 July 2010 10:28 AM
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    Recent surveys tell us that 97% of agents think that For Sale (and To Let) boards are a vital component in their maketing strategy, and whilst a large proportion of enquiries are web based, you still get 35% of your prospects as a direct result of someone seeing your board outside a property.
    Boards are still the cheapest (and therefore most cost effective) method of advertising.

    • 12 July 2010 08:37 AM
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    Boards Breed Boards...

    • 10 July 2010 19:16 PM
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    The Marketing Consultant

    ... don't get me wrong I think that boards are the dogs. But "the internet has all the fancy features but it can lead to people making the wrong assumptions about a property and not enquiring".

    Err... only if you make a pigs ear of it. Done right with preparation and the right tools it can bring in people who would never have driven past and seen the board.
    Much wider coverage and a bigger opportunity. But, do both, well.

    • 09 July 2010 18:46 PM
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    On the last bit of my previous point - the board being up for some time kind of dispels the arguments that boards only promotes the agent, in this case it is in face the opposite!

    • 09 July 2010 15:24 PM
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    PeeBee......

    Point taken, but you don't seem to understand my point. Any marketing activity is there to generate enquiries. Marketing is the support structure for the sales process. You say that it advertises two things...one is the property is on the market. BINGO! This is what generates the enquiry. So what if it doesn't tell you how long it has been on the market or the price. THAT IS THE POINT. Because of this it generates the telephone call or e-mail....THE LEAD. (Remember we have an obligation under PMA to disclose such information such as Price, previous price, time on market etc if asked by a buyer, under the specified matters in the PMA act 1991)It is then down to the sales team to convert this inquiry into the viewing - the difference between the good agent and the bad. The internet has all the fancy features but it can lead to people making the wrong assumptions about a property and therefore not inquiring; no inquiry, no possible buyer to follow up and re-close! I have sold plenty of properties to buyers who said "I saw this on rightmove and discounted it, but after seeing it, love it". Here the buyer didn't inquire/register with the agent from the internet marketing, but from a board inquiry. The skilled sales person then converted this lead effectively. This explains why boards are so effective. But I am in complete agreement, a for sale sign up for more then 6-8 weeks doesn't do the agent many favors for winning the business of other local clients, however that is a seperate matter.

    • 09 July 2010 15:21 PM
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    TheMarketingConsultant, et al - what DOES a FS board advertise?

    A 'For Sale' board advertises two things: firstly... and patently obvious... that the property is For Sale; secondly, that the Agent hasn't done their job yet! Buyers (and prospective sellers) don't know how long the house has been for sale, so it is not the most effective advert for the company - is it? Tells sellers what? "So far we have been unsuccessful..." Only a 'Sold' board is good advertising for the company - and the earlier achieved the better!

    Here endeth the lesson from PeeBee...

    • 09 July 2010 15:01 PM
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    Right, to all those agents out there, how many times on a ring out does a buyer say, "I'll have a drive past the property first, then let you know if I want to view it". Imagine this; that is what they are telling your competitors also, and if you have a property in that same road with a board, but you haven't got that buyer registered, whats to say the board will effectively sell the house by generating the hot lead you need. A blanket ban on boards will inhibit the market.

    Yes, a lot of activity is online nowadays, however we all know that the best form of marketing, regardless of what you are selling, is word of mouth. The sign creates that. I've had clients in the past who declined a for sale sign and, due to admin errors, on occasions one went up. I can safely say that every client of mine in that instance recommended me even though they were anti boards, because the board sold the house.

    I completely agree that they serve as a great way of advertising the agency, but we work for the client. Restricting the tools we have available to help our clients will invariably affect the consumer of estate agency services negatively, just what we need in a luke-warm market place!

    • 09 July 2010 14:16 PM
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    Its all about being responsible, we have always believed in good quality boards and refresh our design every 18 months to keep them looking fresh, I must say that even with a fantastic web presence we still get a huge amount of calls form our boards both in terms of our properties we have for sale and also in gaining instructions, come on guys be sensible this is a fantastic advertising tool, and without this turning into a 'Kremer Signs' posting session, we have used them for years and have always had great quality and service, so I will have that discount too Gary!

    • 09 July 2010 13:26 PM
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    ALL external signs by a 3rd party on residential property should be banned completely.

    • 09 July 2010 12:44 PM
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    nice plug Gary!
    seriously though we have been very happy with kremersigns.
    I expect a huge discount from my next order Gary!

    • 09 July 2010 11:12 AM
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    Hi Richard, contact me at Kremer Signs for your 'for sale board' requirements.

    I believe boards have a place in the marketing of property. They are outisde advertising 24/7 and when looking at property nothing helps more than a simple indication and contact details for the agent.

    Not only are they the cheapest form of advertising but also represent your street presence and bring more business to the door or even transfer them to your websites.

    gary@kremersigns.co.uk

    • 09 July 2010 10:25 AM
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    I would take a guess at Signworld.co.uk. They are very good and cheap. On another point, I find it funny that us 'online estate agents' are told that we will never last and that we will never sell houses because you can't possibly when you are internet based, yet you have Ed Mead(one of the most respected agents in the country in my opinion) is admitting that "everything is done on the web these days". I wonder if he was asked if all estate agents high street shops should be banned, he would agree with that on the basis of what he has said about the web??

    • 09 July 2010 09:59 AM
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    £6.00 a board...who does the boards for D & G ...send them my way !!

    • 09 July 2010 09:09 AM
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