A local authority has won government support to restrict To Let signs across large parts of a city in a move which could encourage other councils to do the same.
Newcastle council successfully applied for a Regulation 7 direction, which means anyone wishing to erect a To Let board in several areas with a large private rented sector will from January require a form of council planning consent.
The council's submission to the Planning Inspectorate stated that "the numbers of To Let boards on residential properties have become excessive in parts of the city where there are high concentrations of rented accommodation and this is having a negative impact on the visual amenity in these neighbourhoods".
The council says it has been attempting to tackle what it calls this problem for the past six years with a voluntary lettings board code supported by using existing planning enforcement powers - but this has not been successful.
This Regulation 7 direction gives us the power to take enforcement action against a significant minority and address an issue which is a persistent concern for residents in some of our most densely populated neighbourhoods. We realise this is a big change for some local businesses, so we are giving them a three month window to get used to the new direction and remove any boards says a spokesman.
Newcastle is the first of England's large cities to apply for and be granted a ban - and agents or landlords who fail to abide by its restrictions face fines of up to £2,500.
Some agents in the city - notably Acorn Properties and Stud-Lets - have gone on the record at saying that although the ban may be unhelpful for business, it has come about as a result of an unsuccessful voluntary code which was undermined by agents not sticking to it.
Responsible agents and landlords agreed and signed up [to the voluntary code] but sadly there were others who either didn't understand the laws or thought they were above them and did their own thing. In the end I don't think the council had any option but to seek a Regulation 7 direction says Acorn Properties' John Henderson.
However the National Landlord Association is describing the ban as a sledgehammer to crack a nut and says it is inconsistent to ban To Let boards but not For Sale boards too.
The ban on what the council calls intrusive To Let boards' will be introduced in January 2015, with letting agents and landlords requiring advertisement consent if they would like to put up boards.
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Comments
Of course the next step is to pay a tax in order to put up a Board. If the Council was acting in the interests of the Consumer it would devise a different method and there are many that would work to limit Boards.