Lehman collapse being felt by lettings agents

News Category: Industry News

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The collapse of US investment banking giant Lehman Brothers is already impacting on the rental sector in London, it has been claimed.

Lehman collapsed on Monday having suffered huge losses from its exposure to the US mortgage market.

Some 5,000 staff are believed to have lost their jobs, with many of these likely to have rented homes in high-end, prime London locations.

Cluttons, an estate agents which also offers lettings services, said that the impact this has had is evident in the fact that it has received notices from a number of tenants in the Belgravia and Wapping since the bank announced bankruptcy proceedings.

Richard Cotton, divisional head of residential agency at Cluttons, told FTadviser.com: "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, Wappingand 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."

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