Estate Agents Boards - A Guide

Introduction

The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1992 is the principal statutory instrument that controls the display of advertisements in England and Wales. The legislation includes certain groups of outdoor advertisements. The second of these groups are those advertisements which benefit from “Deemed Consent”. Such adverts do not require express consent, provided that the advert is displayed in accordance with the criteria set out in the regulations.

The majority of outdoor advertisements undertaken by estate agents and auctioneers benefit from “Deemed Consent” and this guidance attempts to highlight those areas and the criteria that are applicable.

What Signs May Be Displayed?

Class A3 of the Regulations refers to the display of boards by Estate Agents, Surveyors, Auctioneers and Valuers, advertising that land or premises on which the advertisement is displayed, is for sale or to let.

No more than one advertising board shall be displayed on a property, unless it consists of two different advertisements joined together as one board. This applies even if the property has two separate frontages.

Size of Boards

Residential

If the property is for sale or to let for residential use or development, then the board must not exceed 0.5 square metres in area, or a total of 0.6 square metres for two joined boards.

Agricultural/Industrial/Commercial

If one property is for sale or to let for non-residential use or development, then the size of the board must not exceed 2 square metres in area, or 2.3 square metres, if two joined boards.

Sale of Goods or Livestock

The board must not exceed 1.2 square metres in area.

Location of Boards

No board advertising a property for sale or to let can be displayed which exceeds 4.6 metres in height above ground level (or above 3.6 metres in Areas of Special Control, such as parts of Worthing town centre and the Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The only exception being where the building on which the board is displayed exceeds that level anyway, for example, a flat/office at first floor level or above.

Any board displayed on a building must not project from the face of the building by more than 1 metre.

Any board advertising property for sale or to let must be displayed on the property to which it relates. This is quite specific and in the case of a block of flats would mean “on the flat” that is for sale or to let, or in “any part of the grounds that are enjoyed by that flat”.

In the case of a block of flats with communal grounds or accessed by a service road, the display of a number of boards on the communal area or at the entrance to the access road from a public highway would be in contravention of the legislation. In the Council’s experience, such unauthorised displays of multiple boards can lead to complaints being received. One board indicating “flats for sale” could be displayed with the “For Sale/To let” board on the respective flat or grounds only.

A board positioned on a highway verge advertising an adjacent property would also be unauthorised, as the board is not displayed on the property advertised. Such boards also contravene the highways legislation frequently causing obstruction and danger to users of the highway. West Sussex County Council can pursue such a breach.

Duration Of Display Of Boards

Sale/Rental of Residential, Agricultural or Commercial Property

Any board advertising a property for sale or to let must be removed within 14 days of the completion of the sale or granting of tenancy.

Sale of Goods or Livestock

Any board advertising such a sale must be displayed on the land where the goods or livestock are situated or where the sale is to be held. Such boards cannot be displayed in perpetuity on land where sales are held at regular intervals. The boards must relate to specific sales.

Only one such sale board may be displayed at any one time and none can be displayed before 28 days prior to the first day of the sale.

Practice Adopted By Us In Dealing With Such Matters

Worthing Borough Council generally adopts a strong and proactive stance in dealing with breaches of the Advertising Regulations. If signs are displayed not in accordance with the criteria set out in this advice note then they are likely to need “Express Consent”. As such, their display represents an offence to which the Council could instigate prosecution proceedings, resulting in a fine of currently up to £1,000.

The number of complaints arising from the display of estate agents boards represents a relatively small proportion of our overall planning complaint workload. However, any reduction in the number of complaints received and the consequent investigation required is clearly beneficial to both Council and businesses in time and resources.

Complaints generally originate from members of the public, but also occasionally form other estate agents. By observing the clear criteria set out in the legislation, areas for complaint can be eliminated or at least reduced. This leaflet, prepared following discussion with the local Estate Agents Association seeks to assist all parties in achieving this objective.

THIS ADVICE IS AVAILABLE AS A LARGE PRINT LEAFLET

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