More than 50 of the lender's own agencies are to be shut down - and 100 jobs are also to be lost.
Halifax announced today that it will shut 53 of its estate agents.
Falling house prices and a constriction in credit from mortgage firms has led the lender to make the decision, which will result in around 100 people losing their jobs. A further 450 Halifax employees are to be moved in to the firm's bank branch network, where they will serve as in-house agents.
According to Halifax's own monthly house price survey, around eight percent has been wiped off the value of the average UK home. Moreover, recent figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders also show that mortgage approvals numbers are running at around half the levels seen prior to the onset of the credit crunch last summer.
The global financial crisis made it much harder for banks to lend money to each other, which led to many mortgage firms suffering severe revenue concerns. Accordingly, consumer credit has been tightened and cheap deals have been withdrawn from the market.
Recent figures from the National Association of Estate Agents also showed that the average UK estate agent sold just six properties in July.
Halifax Estate Agents is now to concentrate on its core operations in the Midlands and the north of England.
