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Written by rosalind renshaw

The fall-out from this week’s global financial crisis is already hitting agents.

In London, Cluttons report that tenants employed by the collapsed bank Lehman Brothers have already handed in notice after being made redundant.
 
One tenant, an ex-Lehman employee, requested his deposit be used for his final month’s rent, as he wasn’t sure if he would be paid his salary at the end of September. In fact, the former staff will be paid, say the administrators, but later than usual.

Richard Cotton, divisional head of residential agency at Cluttons, said: “It is too early to assess the true impact of the Lehman collapse on the London property market, but it is not surprising to see City tenants who have lost their jobs already giving notice.

“I would expect to see more of this over the coming weeks, which is likely to result in a dip in rents in areas which are popular with city workers such as Docklands, Wapping and Belgravia. It is probable that forced sales will also increase in these key areas, as City workers are forced to sell up, whatever the cost."

Other US banks in serious difficulty have large numbers of staff in London. Goldman Sachs is thought to have over 3,000 staff in five offices, while Morgan Stanley employs 5,000 in Canary Wharf.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds is also predicted to have widespread repercussions on the housing market. Lloyds are likely to rationalise by cutting jobs, offices and also mortgage products – all of which could affect agents.

HBOS are owners of Halifax Estate Agents which had already announced the closure of 53 offices by the end of the year. The latest to close are in Kent, where both the Canterbury and Maidstone branches have shut.

The Maidstone office closed its doors ahead of official closure on September 23.

Comments

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    Well, it looks as though it is business as normal for the rest of the agents. On the basis that in the UK we prefer to live in houses rather than wigwams - there will always be a property market of sorts - just less players in it!

    • 19 September 2008 12:46 PM
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