Hot topic: estate agents' boards

Should we ban 'for sale' signs?

Hammersmith & Fulham council launched a blitz on estate agents' boards in the Sinclair Road and Barons Court Road areas last year, following complaints from residents. Previously, it was common to see hundreds of boards in the area and up to a dozen on a single property.

The scheme was so successful that the council recently called in ten of the borough’s leading estate agents for a discussion about what can be done to tackle the blight of estate agents' boards in more of the borough's streets. All of them were in favour of tougher action and half of them backed the idea of banning the boards outright - read more.

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Please ban them from the whole borough. I do not know of one person who thinks they serve a useful purpose. At least ban them from Mornington Avenue, a small cul-de-sac, where we sometimes have 40+ signs.. At present, there are four ‘For Sale’ signs for one flat.
From Mary Pillai on 16/04/08

I do believe that estate agent banners are as bad as litter in the street. The Council should introduce chargeable permits for displaying these boards and the estate agents should be able to display them only for a month, with no extension possible. It is a disgrace how they use the boards to get free publicity, without any respect for people who live in surrounding properties.
From Nicolas Kroplewski on 14/04/08

I agree that estate agents’ boards should be banned from LBHF streets completely. Hammersmith Grove is particularly bad, where there are always many boards up. Currently, one estate agent has 2 at one property on Hammersmith Grove. These things are an eyesore and should definitely be banned from this street, which is in a conservation area.
From Valerie Millar on 07/04/08

Please ban these signs as they reduce the aesthetic quality of the streets and they are rarely managed or removed properly.
From William Muir on 06/04/08

Why not charge a local tax per board - say £10 per day and add to local resources. Estate agents make so much money out of us after all.
From Anonymous on 01/04/08

The residents do not want to see these boards, and now half the agents are in favour of banning them.
From David Hinman on 29/03/08

Please ban estate agent boards; they reduce quality of life and only serve to provide free advertising for agents. I speak as a landlord who has become incrementally more annoyed with Foxtons each of the four times they have put up a board on my property despite my expressed instruction to contrary. Needless to say I have always destroyed board immediately, but never had a problem in letting the flat.
From William Strode  on 21/02/08

The approach adopted in Westminster works well with restrictions on size, positioning and colour. I suggest these are adopted.
From Simon Stone on 19/02/08

A few estate agents put the "for sale" sign on my door step although the house was not for sale. It is time estate agents are forbidden to put those horrible signs on houses. Robbers and squatters might want to take a look inside the houses with a "for sale" sign as they might think the house is empty. Therefore I judge these signs are a risk to our security.
From Morena Barbieri on 14/02/08

I dislike seeing estate agents' boards, but do think they have a use in helping market the sale of a property. However, I suspect that 'to let' signs are less worthwhile. What I do object to is the new fashion for advertising school fairs using estate agents' boards, promoting the estate agency at the same time. The signs clutter the neighbourhood, and I can't imagine that the estate agents' principal motive is to support the borough's schools.
From Patricia Chacon on 04/02/08

You don’t answer any emails. I have contacted you a few times regarding an estate agent's sales board. It is just one-way communication. I can’t see why you ask for feedback.
From Anonymous on 12/01/08

I wish you could expand your ban on estate agents' advertising boards to being borough-wide!
From P. James on 21/12/07

In your e-h&f newsletter it was stated that estate agents' boards had been outlawed in parts of the borough. Can we expect this ban to be extended across the whole borough? I live in Moore Park Road, SW6, and there have been many problems with vandals using the boards as weapons - once a board was even set on fire and the fire brigade called. I look forward to your comments.
From Alan Rayner on 16/11/07