Estate agents around Heathrow are already taking calls from worried vendors about the airport expansion.

Heathrow received backing for a third runway this week, meaning thousands of homes will face demolition.

The Government says people with homes subject to compulsory purchase will receive 125% of full market value for their homes, plus stamp duty, legal fees and moving costs. But with a consultation only starting in the New Year and MPs still to debate the proposals, home owners and agents are already concerned.

Jag Sran, of Hounslow-based Heathrow Estates, which is just two miles from the airport, says if the Government wants to expand it, it has to come up with a reasonable and sensible plan when it comes to compensation.

He has already sold his own local property this year due to talk of the expansion being approved.

Sran told EYE: “People will panic-sell and buyers will be deterred from the area.

“I have already had calls from concerned sellers. We are not going to stop people if they want to sell, as that is our job.

“But the Government should compensate anyone who has already sold out of fear or as a result of this change, as well as those who sell in the future.

“The Government also needs to be clear on what the property valuations will be based on. What does market value mean?

“This will also hit our business as if half the local population leave, then I lose my clientele.

“It will be investors who benefit in the long run as they will be the ones purchasing the property to reap the benefits of the new runway through buy-to-let.”

Another local agent, Thorgills, which has branches under the flight path in Isleworth, Brentford, Ealing, Chiswick and Hammersmith, said: “Potential buyers will be forensically poring over flight paths to see if that once quiet street will be blighted by aircraft noise.

“Aircraft noise in west London is already the property currency. A two-bed house in an area that’s overflown will have a negative value difference of up to 10% to a similar property in an area nearby. A third runway could wipe tens of thousands of pounds off prices.”

North London agent Jeremy Leaf said it’s not just the local market that will get hit. He said: “It is not just the direct costs but the indirect ones, such as the environmental issues which will have an impact on property prices. If the M25 is closed for six months or more, for example, where is the traffic going to go? You wouldn’t want to live in the large swathe of west London which will be affected by all the extra parking and traffic going down your road.

“Furthermore, there is so much uncertainty as it could go on for 35 years by the time the legal challenges are exhausted, which will have a huge bearing on decisions to buy or not to buy. Those wanting to sell could be in for a long wait if they don’t want to virtually give the property away.”