Our Auction team sold 66% of the 100 lots featured in their February auctions in South Yorkshire and London – raising in excess of £6m.

Public sector lots received considerable interest

The auctions were heavily public sector focused with lots from 14 public sector bodies.

Particularly noteworthy sales included the disposal of a Cornwall Council cottage in St Ives, the former Lluesty Hospital in Holywell for the Welsh Health Estate and Wombwell Town Hall for Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

The St Ives cottage sold for £266,000, almost double the guide price, while the Lluesty Hospital was purchased for £275,000, 45% in excess of the guide price and the Wombwell Town Hall sold for £160,000, £40,000 over the guide price.

Simon Riggall, Head of Auctions, said: “Many of these public sector lots had never featured on the open market before. They therefore received a considerable amount of interest from enthusiastic investors wanting to acquire properties where the scope for adding value may not have yet been fully realised.”

Water tower sold for over 10 times its guide price

Lots from the private sector also featured in both auctions. One unusual lot was a water tower in Netchwood which had a guide price of £8,000, but was sold for £86,000 for Severn Trent Water. We also disposed of many lots for receivers, including a block of flats in Nuneaton which was sold for £275,000 and two office buildings in Maidenhead and Reading which were sold for £355,000 and £225,000 respectively.

Simon added: “Since closing our February auctions a number of sales have been agreed for lots that did not sell on the day. This has taken our disposal rate to in excess of 70%.”

These successful auctions came in the same week that we expanded our Auction team with the appointment of Oliver Childs, formerly of Savills Commercial Auction department. Oliver specialises in private sector lots acting predominantly on behalf of property companies, banks, receivers and private clients.