MHCLG allow another council ban on To Let boards

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has given Lincoln Council permission to ban To Let boards in part of the city dominated by student housing. This was after a consultation requested by local residents claiming the boards were an unnecessary eyesore.

The questions are if bans on boards are going to become more popular and do we still need boards in this online dominated industry?

Kieron Manning, Lincoln planning manager said: “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.”