Letting agents across parts of Newcastle will have to apply for planning permission before they erect boards.
The new regime, which begins in January, is being brought in after the city council successfully applied to the Government for restrictions on the display of boards.
Regulation 7 of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007 allows local authorities to apply for restrictions.
A Regulation 7 restriction means anyone wanting to put up a To Let board must get planning permission first. If they do not, the council will be able to take enforcement action.
The council says that the number of boards have been excessive in parts of the city.
A voluntary curb on lettings board, in place since 2008, had not been successful.
The ban will not apply to For Sale boards but from January, letting signs that go up without planning permission could lead to prosecutions of agents and landlords.
Brilliant. Ban letting agents fees – give the money to the council for planning permission instead! In reality, another cost to pass on to tenants. How will the council Shelter from the protests on this dodgy move?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I think this is a good thing. Seems to me that these boards are on the whole used only to promote the brand image of the agency, rather than to let or sell the property. I doubt anyone living in the property at the time appreciates having them up, likewise the neighbours. It's a bit like our friendly big portals willing us to promote their brand free of charge in our shop windows, etc; or website developers having a link to their own company in the bottom right-hand corner (shouldn't they give us a discount for that never-ending advertising?). Except these boards are much more "in everybody's faces" than tiny links at the bottom of websites, or "we advertise our properties on R*******" in our shop windows (wasn't that a daft thing to do!). Make it a level playing field and ban all boards throughout the country. They are no longer needed, or are they?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
MF – I disagree with pretty much everything you say here – but wouldn't the world be boring if we all just said 'hear, hear' to the first opinion voiced. Thing is, if BOARDS are "no longer needed", what else is now surplus to requirements? Paper details, maybe? Shop window? Or what about going the whole hog – let's do away with the office altogether, work from somewhere nice and far away and advertise purely on whatever portals will welcome our subscription? Oh – and while we're at it – just charge the punters a few quid up front to guarantee our costs are pretty much met, seeing as they're getting diddly in return…
No thanks. I like it the way it is – where my board becomes "promotion" for the company only when it says "SOLD" and I can point that differentiator out to customers sitting in the office… ;o)
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
It would be boring indeed PeeBee! Always good to have a range of views on these subjects 🙂
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
So… to avoid being labelled as boring MF (and to try to get a non-AM article up to at least SIX posts…) – what in MY counter-opinion do you disagree with? ;o)
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register