An MP has accused agents and landlords of leaving up To Let signs all year round.
Labour MP Steve McCabe, who represents Selly Oak, said that the signs are littering streets around the University of Birmingham, and that he has been inundated with complaints from residents.
He said the boards were being kept up “for the purposes of unlimited free advertising”.
A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said: “Property owners and agents have a right to display ‘for sale’ or ‘to let’ boards under ‘permitted development’ legislation; in other words, they do not need to apply for permission.
“The removal of the board is not required until 14 days after the property has been let.
“However, in areas where there are houses with multiple tenancies there may be houses where parts of it are still available to let, so a sign could legitimately remain in place.
“We do of course understand people’s concerns and will continue to investigate and take enforcement action where appropriate.”
Comments (3)
The councils need to enforce the Town & Country Planning Act a little better than they already do – there is one particular agent (begins with an I and is very proud of their square purple and white boards) around our area that is known to have had numerous complaints about their boards being up in numerous places for over a year and yet they still haven’t removed them.
One rule for one, one rule for another, hey?
Landlords? err yeah okay …… Nothing to do with the agents then?
Finger on pulse …..
Nice to see MP’s deal with really important things.