Estate agents are so cynical

Published: 18th March 2010

• WHEN I moved into Hampstead in 1976, practically every street was disfigured by estate agent boards, often several on the same house. 
I was therefore delighted when, a few years later, these boards were banned from this part of London.
The subsequent dramatic growth in house prices – and in the number of local estate agents – suggest that the ban has had no adverse effect on one of the strongest property markets in the country.
I was taken aback when three enormous boards (the largest is over seven square metres) appeared on Heath House (pictured) by Whitestone Pond a few weeks ago, and shocked when I discovered they had been erected without planning permission.
Following strong objections from this society and others, I hope Camden will reject the retrospective planning application out of hand, but the cynical purpose of advertising an estate agent’s name in such a prominent site has, of course, already been comfortably achieved. 
Will Camden please find a way of closing this loophole before it is exploited across our village?
IAN HARRISON
Chairman,
Vale of Health Society
and Liberal Democrat candidate for Hampstead Town ward