INSTANT VIEW - Reaction to Bradford & Bingley deal

LONDON (Reuters) - Bradford & Bingley's branch network and deposit business will be sold to Spain's Banco Santander, and the remainder of the group will be nationalised.

Following are reactions to the move:

ALEX POTTER, BANKS ANALYST, COLLINS STEWART:

"This now means the UK taxpayer owns two of the most poorly performing loan books in the country. The deposit base and branches have been sold to Santander and will mean, in effect, Abbey, A&L and B&B are all merging on the High St.

"Four of the top six UK buy-to-let (BTL) lenders have now gone or are retrenching. We estimate this to be over two-thirds of the UK BTL market which is likely to mean material interest stress for BTL landlords.

"This will drive rising arrears and likely to mean landlords dumping property. The concentration risk of the BTL stock in London and university cities will further exacerbate house price declines and will impact the wider housing market."

SANDY CHEN, BANKS ANALYST, PANMURE GORDON & CO:

"With the B&B nationalisation, the government has signalled that it has changed its template for bank bailouts to allow existing shareholders to be wiped out.

"The broader read across is for continued uncertainty, and with it continued tightness in money markets."