Moving houses: the geographical reorganization of the estate agency industry in England and Wales in the 1980s

The estate agency industry in England and Wales underwent a marked restructuring during the 1980s. An industry formerly dominated by small, locally-integrated firms was invaded by large financial institutions, which through extensive merger and acquisition activity proceeded to build national estate agency divisions. The entry of financial institutions into the estate agency industry can be linked to the pursuit of strategies of vertical and horizontal integration, with financial institutions using estate agency offices and distribution networks for the "origination' of mortgage debt and the sale of financial products. The problems encountered by the new estate agency divisions after 1988 are attributed largely to the downturn in the housing market, although the difficulty of capturing the local knowledge utilized within the estate agency business is also seen to be an important contributory factor. -Authors