Another
council has been given the go ahead to ban To Let boards in part of a city -
with government backing.
The Ministry
of Housing, Communities and Local Government has told Lincoln council that it
can ban the display of boards on certain streets, predominantly those in strong
student accommodation areas.
The
application for the ban came after the council considered the results of
several consultations in what it describes as “problem areas” within the city.
Some
residents allegedly claimed the boards were an unnecessary eyesore.
However, the
figures involved are not large: a total of 134 consultation responses were
received by the council, with 85 of those calling for a total ban on the
boards.
The
government has now given the directive to remove the deemed consent for using
letting boards in certain areas of the city.
The council’s
planning manager Kieron Manning says: “In recent years, the council has
witnessed a significant increase in the number of complaints about the
proliferation of To Let boards in certain parts of the city.
“Any letting
sign should be a temporary feature but, when signs are left up too long in
areas containing high numbers of rental properties, they can begin to dominate
the street scene.
“We became
aware that some signs were staying almost all-year-round and this was beginning
to have a negative effect on the look and feel of our streets, so we decided to
take pro-active action to solve the problem.
“We are very
pleased that government has listened and agreed to allow us to implement the
ban. We don’t expect this to have a negative impact on the city’s rental market
as searches are now mostly done online, and people who are interested in moving
to these particular areas will be able to find homes to rent very easily on the
internet.
“In addition,
they can also visit and call letting agents direct for an up-to-date overview
of properties available.”
The proposal
for a total ban will now go to the council’s executive committee for final
approval before implementation of the directive can begin on April 8
source: LettingAgentToday
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