LSL builds lending empire with Home of Choice for £1.5m

The business is being bought from administrators and it is not expected to have a "material impact" on the group's earnings in 2010.

HoC is a specialist mortgage network provider to about 500 self-employed mortgage advisers. HoC, which was launched in 2005, offers its network of mortgage advisers a choice of lenders from a mortgage panel.

It also offers services to professional mortgage intermediaries, including software and systems designed for brokers.

Chief executive of LSL Simon Embley said: "HoC is an acknowledged leader in its field.

"Strategically, this acquisition will strengthen our relationships with key lending clients and increase lending on an aggregated basis to around 4bn per annum, thereby providing a significant opportunity to leverage our financial services assets across the group."

Last month, LSL confounded a recent glut of bad news from the mortgage sector by reporting continued improvement in trading.

The group told shareholders at its annual meeting that "activity levels remain encouraging" and a pick-up seen late last year – when it was buoyed by stronger-than-anticipated house sales – had continued in the first three months of the year.

In January, LSL sealed the acquisition of more than 200 estate agency branches from Halifax for a token 1.

LSL expects the Halifax business to generate profits in 2011. It will spend this year focusing on improving branch income from work such as lettings.

The acquisition gave the group a network of 575 branches, including 40 in Yorkshire, making it the second-biggest estate agency group in the country.

However, chief executive Simon Embley has previously warned that integrating them will take time – the branches lost 51m in 2008.