The Guardian reports today that Lloyds Bank has sold its Halifax estate agencies for £1 to Your Move, with the loss of as many as 460 jobs.
Halifax estate agencies were part of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) banking group that was bought by Lloyds a year ago.
Oh yes, and before that Bank of Scotland bought the Halifax, which was a building society that bought up a chain of estate agents.
This sale marks the end of a tale that began in the early eighties when the banks and the insurance companies realized that whoever grabbed the potential home-buyer first stood the best chance of being the one to sell them a mortgage and home insurance.
They knew that it was probably the estate agent or the solicitor who would be the first point of contact for the prospective buyer.
The banks dallied with the idea of offering to do the legal work for sellers and buyers, but there need to be a change in the rules about who could do that work. The law was changed and the government of the day said it would aid competition, provide a more efficient service, blah, blah, blah.
The banks decided pretty quickly that there was too much work and too much risk involved in trying to do the legal work, but estate agencies offered better pickings.
The Law Society loosened its rules to allow solicitors to sell houses, but there were too many firms for them ever to be able to offer a concerted alternative to the big chains of estate agents.
At the same time the building societies were in the process of becoming banks. This allowed them greater freedom in what they wanted to do, including buying up estate agencies.
The ones who benefited most were the independent estate agents with a chain that gave them a national presence. They sold their agencies to the banks and the insurance companies, and retired happy.
Well the banks had a good run, and they earned good commissions. Now it has ended badly, and it is all over – for £1.
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