London is overcrowded with 2,881 estate agencies in the capital — more than the number of independent butchers

More than 200 new estate agency branches have opened on London’s high streets over the past year ,despite the no tangible increase, in UK Property Transaction
Statistics.Consumers are generally  buying more items online ,with retail sales suffering growing online drift and decline of many financial retail outlets .

The Governments is also supporter of estate agents embracing "the online revolution" ,with benefits felt by the consumers and wider economical uplift.


There are now 2,881 estate agencies in the capital — more than the number of independent butchers, greengrocers and fishmongers combined.


The total is up by 220, or 8.3 per cent, on 12 months ago and represents more than two branches for each of London’s 1,200 town centres, according to the statistics compiled by one of Britain's largest ,online property portal Rightmove.


All but one borough — Enfield — saw increases in the number of estate agencies last year and the biggest rise was in Westminster, where the total shot up 27 per cent to 228. Islington was second with a 26 per cent rise, followed by a 16 per cent surge in Hammersmith and Fulham.

The Tube stations with most estate agents within a quarter of a mile

Source: Rightmove

The relentless march of the estate agents comes at a time of sharply falling home sales transactions. In the first eight months of last year there were  14 per cent fewer sales, according to figures from the Halifax.

However, the lost commission has been more than recouped by fees from the booming lettings side of the business as “generation rent” tenants are forced to defer getting on the property ladder.

The more concentrated clusters of estate agencies are in Walthamstow and Borough, where there are 18 within a quarter of a mile of the Underground station. In Wimbledon, Ealing Broadway, Canary Wharf and Turnham Green there are 17 within in a quarter of a mile radius of the local station.

Alex Gosling, chief executive of one of the growing number of online estate agents called HouseSimple.com, which commissioned the figures, said: “It’s impossible to walk down a local  high street in London now without passing an estate agent’s window, but Londoners will still be surprised to know there are almost 3,000 estate agents in the capital.”

Consumers using more digital devices to manage money , though device depends on region in UK

The latest Digital Dashboard from Halifax focuses on the different ways desktop computers and mobile devices are being used by customers to manage their money; with women way ahead of men when it
comes to managing their money on the move.

The data shows that it could well be a case of ‘Desktops Dads’ vs. ‘Mobile Mums’, with 

Desktop
men most likely to be logging in to online 
banking via desktop (64% vs 58% of women) 

Tablet
and women are most likely to be
logging in via a tablet (30% vs 23% of men). 

Smart Phones
When it comes to smartphones, women and men areequally as likely to use, but women are more likely to be accessing their accounts while they’re on the
go, checking their finances 16 times a month on average (vs 14 for men).

Regionally, while there is a relatively consistent picture across the UK, customers 

Scotland Desktops
are the most likely to use desktops (67%) and tablets (30%) to log in, while Londoners are 

London Mobile
leading the way logging in via their mobiles (69%). 

Londoners are, however also the least likely to use a tablet (22%)with those in the 

South West least likely to use mobile (58%) 

North East least likely to use desktop (56%).

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