Those in The House having a physical, business-like presence (6,3,6)
I believe the answer is:
bricks and mortar
'presence' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'those in the house having a physical business-like' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is found within the answer.
'business' could be 'm' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'm' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bricks and mortar that I've seen before include "Housing" , "buildings" .)