Banks used to take 25-year leases on properties which they rented. Also, once they moved into a property, it was pretty much always guaranteed that they would never move out. However, things have changed, especially over the past few years.

Banks now take leases as short as 5 years which has hit property values hard. Further, at the end of the lease, banks do not hesitate to move out and permanently close branches if they are unprofitable. Landlords then struggle to find replacement tenants, especially in times like these where every high street has lots of vacant shops.

Bank closures used to be very rare but are now very common. Almost half of all UK banks have closed since 2015 according to Which? During this period, 4,685 bank branches have permanently closed with another 226 scheduled to close by the end of the year.

High street banks including Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and Lloyds are rapidly disappearing before our eyes. This makes customers very angry as they have to travel very far to their nearest branch or have to use online banking. Some don’t like internet banking and prefer the ‘old’ way of doing things. Others cannot rely on this as the internet and mobile coverage in their area is very poor.

There is also the problem of banks closing ATM’s. Although fewer people now use cash in the UK, there are still millions who need and rely on cash everyday. However, these people now have limited access to it.

To sum up, as long as banks keep taking short leases on properties and closing branches, commercial properties which house high street banks are no longer safe investments.