The third Heathrow runway will blight property prices in the surrounding areas of Hounslow, Kew, Windsor and Maidenhead, eMoov founder Russell Quirk has warned.

The government gave a third runway the green light today six years after the Conservative-led coalition scrapped similar plans.

The move has prompted former London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith to resign as an MP, while the current London mayor Sadiq Khan called it the wrong decision for both the capital and the UK.

Quirk called the decision “long overdue” and felt it would benefit the UK economy as a whole, though he doesn’t think those living nearby should be jumping for joy.

He said: “Not such great news for the hundreds of residents that will see their properties demolished as a result of the expansion of a third runway.

“Probably even worse news for homeowners in Hounslow, Kew, Windsor, Maidenhead and other surrounding areas who are likely to see the value of their property blighted, as a result of a lengthy construction process and ongoing noise and air pollution.”

But Lee Grandin, owner of buy-to-let brokerage Landlord Mortgages and B2B platform Lend2Landlord, reckoned flats and smaller houses will fare better as workers move to the area.

He said: “Yes, if you have a nice £3m mansion in Kew or Windsor an Airbus over your head every 10 seconds probably isn’t going to make your dream mansion desirable to purchasers.

“But flats and smaller houses will see a significant increase in demand from workers moving to the area for work.

“Any expansion of Heathrow would be good news for landlords who run their business in close proximity to the airport.”

Grandin was bemused by the move after talk of a ‘hard Brexit’ appeared to signal a tightening up on migration.

He added: “Developing infrastructure to support global trade after Brexit will help to strengthen our economy but it doesn’t stack up.

“On the one hand we want to restrict migrant movement from Europe but we are quite happy to encourage their flights to land here to and from Europe.

“Are we replacing immigration with a pollution dump over the capital?”