A blanket ban on all estate agents and letting agents’ signs in a large area of London has been extended for another ten years, after a spate of prosecutions.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has prosecuted 19 agents in the last 12 months, with fines of between £100 and £3,500 – a record in the UK. A further 15 cases are waiting to go to court. The council has so far had a 100% success rate.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has approved the council’s application to renew its estate agent board ban for another decade. Approval was also given for the ban to be extended.
The extended ban came into force on April 16 and prevents estate agents from displaying boards without written consent from the council.
The ban is the longest approved in the UK so far.
The council claims that historically, it had a problem with agents competing with one another to see who could put up the largest number of boards, especially in roads where large Victorian houses had been converted into flats.
A consultation with residents, when the original ban was imposed, showed 98% approved of moves to eradicate the signs.
Deputy council leader Councillor Nick Botterill said: “In the digital age when so many people are online or have iPhones or Blackberries, these intrusive and outdated signs really are not necessary.
“This extension to our popular estate agent board ban means that the large number of tatty signs, that used to blight some of our nicest streets and make them look cluttered and shabby, will remain a thing of the past.”
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Comments
wardy is gay
Have always hated agency boards and find that, particularly in London, they are a total and utter eyesore. I would happily see them banned across the whole of London.
Can't comment outside of London as I imagine boards for rural properties may attract attention that may otherwise be missed but see no real benefit in major cities.
Eradicate them and you will see a lot of dodgy and unscrupolous agents go with them as their flyboarding tactics go, so do the instructions they don't deserve.
I agree, ban all boards throughout the UK.
I run a small estate agency and I am fed up seeing other agents sticking boards up on properties they are not selling, on public land by busy roads nowhere near a property they are selling, putting 10-boards outside one house and when we put a board up outside a genuine property we are selling, our vendor's receive hundreds of touting letters and quite a few agents knocking at their doors asking for the business.
It's sad, it's unprofessional and it shows our industry up to being little more than packs of wolves all in it for themselves at any cost.
Give it another 5-years when the supermarkets will jump into estate agency and sell every property for less than £500 all inclusive. The traditional estate agents will go to the wall with their ultra high selling fees and things should calm down somewhat!
I'm in the industry and I'm embarrassed to call myself an estate agent. Greed and unprofessionalism is rife.
'Surely tight regulations would assist agents to one board per property'
Sorry Gazza but if agents won't comply with the current regulations what makes you think they will comply with one board per property. Even when given clear instructions of NO BOARDS WHATSOEVER they still put them up!
Ban them all, increase the fines, outlaw the board makers, tar and feather the agent, arrest and imprison his family, shut down the industry........
My first reaction was that it was a crazy populist act by a local councillor - of course 98% of residents were in favour of a ban, because 98% of people weren't trying to sell their houses.
Thinking it through though, we all know that boards are for advertising agents not properties. If everyone is banned then its a level playing field.
A thought........
Would a ban affect 'For Sale or To Let POSTERS in windows?
Would a ban affect a vendors private board outside a freehold property - Whether for his house or a cat, dog, car etc?.
In Westminster they have had a by-law in place for as long as I can remember banning estate agents boards from outside homes in the conservation area's (which is much most of W1postcode).
Ban them all.
(sorry Gary)
Agree with Bill,
Ban them UK wide.
They look horrid, and some agents fly board, making the effect even worse.
Boards are an anachronism in this day and age. We operate in an area which is mostly purpose built flats or conversions from former commercial buildings. The managing agents would go nuts if you put a board up on the building and you would probably get a bill for damage. It doesn’t affect how we sell or let and the days of people driving around streets trying to find something to buy or rent are long gone when they can sit at a computer, search. look at floor plans, virtual tours, Google street view etc etc, All boards do is advertise the agent – not the property.
Surely tight regulations would assist agents to one board per property, rather than any sort of blanket ban? Even the opportunity to advertise using a black & white version of the board. if agents were breaking the rules, then ban individual agents + fine.
I know we are in the age of the internet, but 'boards' drive traffic & interest to the websites. Deputy council leader Councillor Nick Botterill would think differently if he had to run a business rather than try & make everything look pretty
I think this would be the more sensible option rather than a blanket ban, just seems like a bit of a-z solution with nothing in between