Conservatives say estate agents' boards ban should be extended

The Conservatives on the council in Brighton and Hove have called for a ban on estate agents’ boards to be extended - and say they have the support of local estate agents.

A ban has been in place across a number of conservation areas as a result of a decision taken when the council was Conservative-controlled in 2010. 

The existing ban is a Regulation 7 Direction to For Sale and To Let boards within most of the central conservation areas of Brighton & Hove council boundaries; the justification has been that these areas contain “good historic architecture” and that boards “cause significant problems to the historic character of these areas” according to the council.

Any boards displayed within these areas therefore require de facto planning consent from the council.

Now some of the party’s councillors want a substantial extension and the Brighton & Hove News reports that Tory councillor Robert Nemeth has written to the authority’s chief executive, raising the issue.

“I would certainly like to see an extension of the area that is covered by the ban as do many residents and, indeed, the Brighton and Hove Estate Agents Association...I respectfully request that a review is carried out so that other roads which satisfy the criteria can be added to the area in question without further delay” says the letter from Nemeth.