Having a blue plaque commemorating an illustrious former resident grace your home is arguably the best way to stay one step ahead of the Joneses.

A Plath in history: Poet's house is marked

The civic-minded, and rather self-congratulatory, Victorians first came up with the idea. Once confined to properties in London, recent years have seen the distinctive indigo plaques sprout across the United Kingdom.

Since Lord Byron's birthplace was marked in 1867, a number of bodies have busily set about putting up plaques of various design.

After Plath

However, the blue ribbon of blue plaques remain the 750-odd sanctioned by English Heritage, which this week unveils a marker on the London home of Sylvia Plath, American poet and one time wife of the late Ted Hughes.

English Heritage receives up to 100 suggestions each year from eager home owners, amateur historians and relatives of famous folk. Only 12 of these make it through the stringent selection process.

Worthy of a plaque

Jimi Hendrix - Rock guitarist Ian Fleming - Creator of James Bond Karl Marx - Father of communism Enid Blyton - Children's author John Brodie - Inventor of the football goal net

"We're quite scrupulous. We like to choose addresses where the person lived for a long time or did some of their most significant work. We're not keen on places they just stayed at," says an English Heritage spokeswoman.

Sylvia Plath's north London home is a case in point. It was chosen above other addresses because Plath wrote her book, The Bell Jar, while living in the Camden house.

Plaque of honour

No matter how famous the name, those wishing to lobby for a plaque to grace their semi may have to be patient. English Heritage only consider figures born a century or more ago, or deceased for two decades.

Thanks to these rules Beatle John Lennon is only set to reach the top of the English Heritage list this December, the 20th anniversary of his assassination.

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Can't wait? Derek Sumeray, author of Discovering London Plaques, says some of the groups who grant plaques are more accommodating.

"The most prestigious ones are from English Heritage - because of their criteria. With groups like the British Comedy Society, the person could have died yesterday."

Lacking a famous predecessor, some owners resort to more desperate measures.

A plaque of lies

"There is a plaque to poet William Blake at one address, but there's nothing at all to substantiate that he ever lived there," says Mr Sumeray.

Other "unofficial" plaques are more honest. Mr Sumeray found one on a shabby north London house dedicated to Elisabeth Hagedorn - an ordinary mother.

Plaque fact

Novelist Charles Dickens has nine plaques The oldest surviving plaque is to Napoleon III (1875) Three houses now boast plaques to two famous residents

British artist Gavin Turk made a copy of a plaque, the sole exhibit at his Royal Academy degree show.

Although his works now command high prices, "Gavin Turk, sculptor, worked here 1989 -1991" failed to impress the examiners and Turk flunked his MA.

Although English Heritage cannot recall any home owners declining the offer of a blue plaque - or asking to have an existing one removed - the authentic discs do have their downside.

Plaque ache

Leonard Wheatley, who lives in the Chelsea house formerly occupied by Dracula creator Bram Stoker, says the plaque attracts up to 300 tourist each week.

"They'll all take flash photographs, so it's a bit hard to ignore. But we've lived here six years now, so we're used to seeing crowds outside the window."

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Mr Wheatley, who has never read Stoker's book, says some visitors ask if the house is haunted or "creepy inside".

"I'm sure they would be very disappointed to see the inside of the house. There's nothing that recalls Bram Stoker at all."

Many of us might imagine a link to a famous figure pushes up the price of a property.

"I really don't know if it does. When we bought it, we didn't pay any more because of the plaque," says Mr Wheatley.

Return of the plaque

William Jewson, property expert and himself the owner of a flat in a block once home to Alfred Hitchcock, agrees that a plaque doesn't carry a price premium.

"If anything it's a unique selling point, if some film buff or Hitchcock nut wants to have a tenth of Alfred Hitchcock's old house."

Plaque my Hitch up

In today's simmering housing market, a plaque can have its advantages even if potential buyers don't know North By Northwest from North Yorkshire.

"It may not add to the value, but it's a point of interest. It may attract attention as buyers look through endless lists of properties."

Even Sylvia Plath's head was turned by a blue plaque. In 1962, she rented a house because it had once been home to WB Yeats.