Sign Of The Times: Conservation Conundrum
Are estate agent boards a blight on the streets or a helpful marketing tool?
How do you search for a property? Do you clock the estate agents boards along your preferred streets and find them helpful indicators of what’s for sale and to let? Are they useful or annoying?
Residential for sale and to let boards have been brought under planning control within most of the central conservation areas of Brighton & Hove, replacing previous controls which were restricted to a small number of the city’s historic squares. This was confirmed by the Secretary of State, who agreed with the council and local residents that these areas contain good historic architecture, including some of the highest quality, and that such boards do cause significant problems.
You don’t need to spoil the look of a street in order to find a buyer
Brighton & Hove City Council brought in controls (Regulation 7 Direction) which apply to all residential properties in the following conservation areas: The Cliftonville Conservation Area, Denmark Villas Conservation Area, Willett Estate Conservation Area, The Drive Conservation Area, The Avenues Conservation Area, Brunswick Town Conservation Area, Montpelier and Clifton Hill Conservation Area, West Hill Conservation Area, North Laine Conservation Area, East Cliff Conservation Area, College Conservation Area and Kemp Town Conservation Area. In the Regency Square Conservation Area, only Regency Square, Bedford Square and Norfolk Square are included, and in the Valley Gardens Conservation Area, the direction only applies to the area from St Peter’s Place northwards.
The direction came into force on 20 September 2010 and is made under the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007. The effect of the direction is that no residential sale or letting boards may be displayed on the street frontages of the above properties without express consent. And quite right to I hear you say and it seems that the agents in the City are adhering to this. But when it comes to the areas outside the conservation areas the proliferation of agent’s boards in some parts of the City is certainly making areas look untidy.
Marc Cox, sales director at Mishon Mackay says: “You don’t need to spoil the look of a street in order to find a buyer. Too many boards have a negative effect on a neighbourhood and can make it look shabby and rundown”
Cox has called for a complete ban on boards and explains why: “It is a contentious issue with some agents who want them and a large percentage of the public who don’t. But there are plenty of other ways to advertise properties these days”.
Chris Sawyer of Sawyers Estate Agents and the Vice-President of the Brighton & Hove Estate Agents comments “I’m delighted that boards have gone from conservation areas. When you look back now it seems outrageous that boards were everywhere in Brunswick Square and Adelaide Crescent for example. The visual clutter they created amongst such beautiful architecture was a scandal. That said, personally I wouldn’t want to see boards banned completely. For Sale boards can still be an effective form of advertising. Many agents will have sold property directly as a result of a board.”
The Brighton & Hove Estate Agents Association, which has many local estate agencies as members, are working closely with the Brighton & Hove City Council to ensure that the regulations are adhered to and in brief these are the board regulations which all agents should adhere to:
For residential for sale & to let boards, the board must not exceed 0.5 of a square metre, or a total area of 0.6 of a square metre for two joined boards You may only display ONE for sale/to let board on each premises, a ‘back to back’ for two agents advertising the same property is allowed. If there is more than one property for sale or to let at a premises i.e. on a block of flats, it is illegal to have more than one board up. No advertisement board is allowed to extend outwards from the wall of a building by more than 1 metre and must be removed not later than 14 days after completion of the sale or granting of the tenancy.
Sawyer goes on to say “New restricted zones within parts of the city centre may have to be considered. There are many attractive period buildings not within conservation areas. Boards divide opinion. At the most recent B&HEAA Council meeting we discussed balloting our members for their views on this. One thing is for sure. We certainly want to see ALL agents obeying by the rules.”
So, whether you like them or hate them the agent’s advertising board is here to stay, for the time being at least.
See the Regulations online www.bhcc.co.uk and www.bheaa.co.uk
