THE GROWING ‘eyesore’ of To Let signs covering many of Oxford’s streets has been condemned by a frustrated East Oxford resident whose house has become surrounded by them.

It may only be October, but a sea of placards have already begun to mark the ‘horrifically early’ process of advertising to students for next September.

Stephen Law was so annoyed by the ‘ridiculous’ number of signs near his Regent Street home that he contacted Oxford City Council’s planning department last week to call for action.

The 56-year-old said: “I think it is getting worse and I’m worried it’s going to develop into an arms race between the local letting agents.”

The father-of-two said signs should only be put up when tenants were actively being sought otherwise it was simply free advertising, which is banned, and even then the limit should only be one sign per property.

He added: “The signs obstruct our view of the street from the front of our property, and are an eyesore. If other landlords now follow the example set here, our street will quickly be awash with signs given the very high density of HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupancy) in the street.”

Charlie Bartlett, partner at letting agency Premier, whose signs are among those displayed on Regent Street, said he had sympathy with Mr Law’s concerns, saying: “I know it seems horrifically early to be advertising but that is how student lets work and our housing list will come out at the start of November for the next academic year. We remove the signs as soon as a property has been let and aim to have them all gone by December.”

He added: “Our current signs for two properties on Regent Street have only been in place since October 12 or 13 and that will be the case for the others as well because they are being multi-listed.”

Mr Bartlett said the signs were an effective way to advertise to students and other landlords who may use them in the future but recognised it was a ‘contentious’ issue, saying: “Some letting agents do take advantage and plaster streets with their signs. Especially in student areas at this time of year it can be completely covered. We don’t want to annoy residents so if someone comes to us and complains we will remove the sign.”

Government guidance states: “In each case only one board may be displayed on premises and this must be removed not later than 14 days after completion of the sale or granting of the tenancy.”

Mr Bartlett said that the issue of multiple boards was a ‘grey area’ and he would welcome clarity from the city council on the issue.

Matt Pickles, spokesman for Oxford University, which has seen its student population increase by more than 3,000 in the last 10 years, said: “We see it as a priority to provide accommodation for as many of our students as possible. The university and colleges have recently built a number of student accommodation buildings.

“Like most Oxford residents, including thousands of university staff, we are concerned by the cost of accommodation in the city and we are working hard to ease the burden on the rental market.”