London council want to ban estate agents putting up ‘for sale’ signs ‘due to negative impact’

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An inner-London council is seeking to ban estate agents from placing ‘for sale’ signs on properties in the local area over fears that they cause “substantial harm to local character.”

Writing in an application to housing secretary Angela Rayner, officials for Westminster local authority add that areas with many signs in place are seeing in “reduced investment.” This is having a negative impact on “employment and development opportunities,” they add

The application also claims that the signs are no longer necessary due to the proliferation of online house-hunting. Climate change is also cited as a concern, as “boards need to be manufactured, transported and then installed or replaced when damaged.

“The uncontrolled installation of multiple boards can therefore result in unnecessary carbon emissions.”

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Westminster council already have strict rules on estate agent signs, with permission needed to put them up in protected areas. This application would mean that permission was needed for the entire borough, ending what the authority calls an unfair “two-tier” system.

The council’s request has sparked accusations of ‘NIMBYism,’ with the National Federation of Builders (NFB) saying “it is time to call out” the council and urging Ms Rayner to reject the application.

They have not sought any ‘in character’ solution,” says Rico Wojtulewicz, head of planning and market insight at the NFB. “Their whole premise will curtail local businesses by increasing all their costs, and consequently giving a leg up to big companies.

“Westminster Council talk about tackling ‘Fairness’ and the two-tier system, but the borough’s housing crisis paints a different picture. The average house price is £960,000. More than 4,000 people are on its council housing waiting list, with 23 families waiting over two decades. 2,204 people have been stuck in temporary accommodation for at least ten years.”

Short for ‘not in my back yard,’ NIMBY is a characterisation of people or communities who are resistent to real estate or infrastructure development in their local area. Planning reforms introduced by the new Labour government have lead to assessments that ministers are waging a ‘war on NIMBYs’.

Westminster Council has been approached for comment.