Letting Agents Boards on communal land

claire111

Hi

Grateful for any advice.

It has become common practice to erect 'For Sale' and 'To Let' boards at the end of my close, on some communal ground.

I don't have a problem with this, as we are a little close off a main road, except now it seems that letting agents are putting up 'Let By' boards every time they re-new an existing letting agreement. . This can be every 6-12 months for each property. This is just clearly touting for business and I don't blame them for trying but I am fed up with boards at the end of my road !

Isn't this against some rules or regulations ? Do they need permission to put up boards on communal land ?

Any advice from letting agents gratefully received !

regards

Claire

EdwardS033

The lettig agent has 14 days from the granting of a tenancy to remove the board. The local council will have a planning officer and if you contact them they will take the appropriate action against the agent.

googler

Define 'communal'.

Owned by the local council, or by a group of homeowners (presumably including the landlord of the tenanted property)?

claire111

Thanks for your speedy reply

so does the 'renewal of an existing agreement' count as 'granting of tennancy ' as far as the planning regulations are concerned ?

I also have no way of finding out what property the board refers to nor when the tennancy was granted. I have rung the agent and they have told me it is 'confidential' and not something they disclose !!

Any thoughts ?

regards

Claire

claire111

Communal - owned and maintained by all the residents of the close - including the 'alleged' landlord.

Thanks

Claire

googler

claire111 wrote: »

Communal - owned and maintained by all the residents of the close - including the 'alleged' landlord.

So, with the agent acting on the instructions of one of the co-owners...?

And, when you or any other co-owner wants to sell, won't you want to put a For Sale board on the same piece of communal land...?

eddddy

claire111 wrote: »

It has become common practice to erect 'For Sale' and 'To Let' boards at the end of my close, on some communal ground.

I don't have a problem with this, as we are a little close off a main road, except now it seems that letting agents are putting up 'Let By' boards every time they re-new an existing letting agreement. . This can be every 6-12 months for each property.

Hi Claire

It looks like the EAs could be breaking the law in a couple of ways - that is the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007.

As an example, you can see the regs on Lambeth Council's website:
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/HousingPlanning/Planning/EstateAgentBoards.htm

[The EA must] have the permission of the owner of the site on which they are displayed (this includes the Highway Authority if the sign is to be placed on highway land)

If the land really is jointly owned by all the home owners, I would have thought all the owners would have to agree. (Although, if there is a Managing Agent, you may have allowed them to agree on your behalf.)

And...

No advertisement may be displayed indicating that land or premises have been sold or let, other than by the addition to an existing advertisement of a statement that a sale or letting has been agreed, or that the land or premises have been sold or let, subject to contract.

So it sounds like they are breaking this rule as well - as it sounds like they are not adding to an existing 'To Let' sign.


Maybe report it to your local planning authority, with photos. If it's a first complaint, I expect the council will send the EA a warning letter, which may be enough to remedy the problem.

claire111

googler wrote: »

So, with the agent acting on the instructions of one of the co-owners...?

And, when you or any other co-owner wants to sell, won't you want to put a For Sale board on the same piece of communal land...?

Googler you must have mis-understood. I am not referring to 'For Sale' boards or even 'To Let' boards.

claire111

Eddddy - many thanks this has given me some useful info but I don't really understand the second quote.

No advertisement may be displayed indicating that land or premises have been sold or let, other than by the addition to an existing advertisement of a statement that a sale or letting has been agreed, or that the land or premises have been sold or let, subject to contract.

I have looked at it again in context in the Town and Country Planning Regulations - does it really mean that an agent can't put a 'Let By' board up if they haven't previously put a 'To Let' board up ? I'm sure Estate Agents put SOLD boards up all the time, when they haven't put FOR SALE up previously....

Anyone know ?

Many thanks

Claire

eddddy

Claire - I think the intent of the law is roughly as follows:

- You are allowed to put up a For Sale or To Let advertisement.
- You are not allowed to put up a SOLD or LET advertisement.

BUT... there is special exception. If you have been displaying a 'For Sale' or 'To Let' advertisment, you can add a 'slip' to inform people whwn it has beem sold/let for up to 14 days. (I guess the intent is to help people who have seen the original advert, by letting them know that the property is no longer available.)

BUT... there is a further complication. If the advert/board says 'Sold subject to contract' or 'Let subject to contract' (or STC) and negotiations are still taking place, the 14 day limit doesn't seem to apply. (I guess the intent is to make people aware that the contract is not final, and the property may become available again.)

As a result of these complexities/grey areas, I'm not sure how rigourously planning departments enforce these rules.

Probably best to see what your local planning dept say.

ValHaller

claire111 wrote: »

Googler you must have mis-understood. I am not referring to 'For Sale' boards or even 'To Let' boards.

Googler probably does not misunderstand. The point he is making is that you might want to have a for sale board yourself at some point.