Upstairs flat ‘for sale’ board in our garden

AdrianC

EAs don't erect their own signs. They contract companies to do it for them.

Phone the EA, explain the situation politely, and ask for it to be moved.

[Deleted User]

Thrugelmir said:

Is it that important a matter given the current crisis? 

You could probably say that about 90% of the post on here?!? So I assuming therefore only matters relating to COVID are acceptable? 

MovingForwards

The for sale board was wedged into the window surround for the flat I purchased, and the time before that based on the old advert. First floor, no right to use the front garden, but access to the path as specified in my deeds.

I've seen loads of flats done that way, only the old new builds and new builds have the board in the garden / lawn area as it's communal grounds.

Maybe it's a Scottish thing with wedging it?

Take it down and contact the EA, saying they have no right to use your garden, you haven't and won't give permission and they can collect the board from wherever you dump it within a week or it's going to be disposed of.

greatcrested

I was going to offer constructive advice. But then read your earlier reply and thought better of it....

Good manners are appreciated here.

youth_leader

Sorry to hear the board has been put into your garden, I hope it can be placed elsewhere.  Boards do funny things to people, they seem to forget their manners.  Shortly after my board was installed I found people wandering around my garden looking at my property twice, without knocking to ask.  

Thrugelmir

amy181603 said:

Thrugelmir said:

Is it that important a matter given the current crisis? 

You could probably say that about 90% of the post on here?!? So I assuming therefore only matters relating to COVID are acceptable? 

If you are that unhappy with the placement of the board. Remove it. You don't need approval from a random bunch of strangers on an internet forum. The sooner the property is sold the sooner the board will disappear. Catch 22. 

princeofpounds

If the garden is specifically demised (allocated) to you in the lease and there is no provision in the lease for it to be there, then you can remove it just as you could remove it if they put it in your front room. It’s your property.

If it is not demised to you but part of the freehold, it’s up to the freeholder in theory.

Legally you are not supposed to damage it as far as possible, and you should offer the agency a reasonable opportunity to collect it.

As noted, EAs usually contract out the placing of signs. It’s usually some bloke in a van who isn’t usually the sharpest tool in the box and who will have no more info than an address. So this kind of thing is not uncommon and most agents will move them if asked. But cutting it down yourself is easiest and quickest.

vitaweat

The EA can come onto your land if you don't have an injunction against them.  If they damage anything then they have committed criminal trespass.

In your position I would write to them, probably via email given the times in which we live.  Give them perhaps 3 working days to remove it or you will remove it yourself and leave it in a legal place (eg at their offices).

The chances are they don't know that the front garden belongs to you.  Give them the chance to do the right thing then get narky if they don't take you up on that opportunity.

We had a "sold by" sign left in our garden for a while.  I gave the EA 3 days to remove it.  It was gone by 9am on day 1.

warby68

The way you refer to a perfectly normal for sale board which is part of everyday life (well, for periods of time) as 'hideous' and 'bashed in' suggests you have taken rather a lot of offence to what is probably just a mistake. It would probably not be wise to proceed on that basis but just follow a more practical one. The for sale board is on a part of the site which does not belong to the property for sale so is misleading and would be better put somewhere else. Simply ask the agents politely. Its probably a mistake rather than a reflection of the attitude of the upstairs owner who you are not keen on.
I wouldn't remove it until you have given that option time to work.
Like others though, it seems a small issue to worry about right now - each to their own but this sense of proportion may guide others' response to your complaint as well just as a peculiarity of the times. You might want to be extra nice about it rather than extra indignant.
It doesn't have to be about digging out leases and rights just practical.

vitaweat

warby68 said:

The way you refer to a perfectly normal for sale board which is part of everyday life (well, for periods of time) as 'hideous' and 'bashed in' suggests you have taken rather a lot of offence to what is probably just a mistake. It would probably not be wise to proceed on that basis but just follow a more practical one. The for sale board is on a part of the site which does not belong to the property for sale so is misleading and would be better put somewhere else. Simply ask the agents politely. Its probably a mistake rather than a reflection of the attitude of the upstairs owner who you are not keen on.
I wouldn't remove it until you have given that option time to work.
Like others though, it seems a small issue to worry about right now - each to their own but this sense of proportion may guide others' response to your complaint as well just as a peculiarity of the times. You might want to be extra nice about it rather than extra indignant.
It doesn't have to be about digging out leases and rights just practical.

It's for the OP to decide what's reasonable to be done to his land, not us.