Beleaguered Halifax closes estate agents

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Halifax Estate Agents, a unit of Halifax owner HBOS, said it will close 53 High Street branches by the end of 2008 in the wake of a "significant decline" in the number of house sales in the past 12 months.

Up to 100 jobs will be lost and a further 450 staff will be forced to transfer to similar roles elsewhere in the company.

It now plans to concentrate on its core markets in the Midlands and the North.

Halifax is just the latest estate agent to close some of its branches and axe workers as the industry faces its worst downturn for 30 years.

Estate agents have been hit hard by the combination of falling house prices and the credit crunch, which has seen mortgage lending dry up and transactions fall.