Stretton’s February sale at the Connaught Rooms saw a packed room raise more than £3.63m on the 50 lots actually offered during the afternoon.
Auctioneer Benjamin Tobin was especially pleased at the high proportion of people who were clearly there to bid. “This contrasted with our December sale — when we sold 80% of our lots — but with many people present just to observe. At our largest sale we had multiple bidders on almost every lot and, with four lots unsold, a very successful afternoon.”
Residential property in northeast London set the pace for the afternoon’s bidding. The vacant freehold on a two-storey period house in need of much refurbishment at 148 Tottenham Road, Islington, N1, sold for £104,000, some £30,000 above its reserve.
A four-storey block of four vacant flats and four garages in Greenwood Road, Hackney, E8, performed even more impressively. Entered by the Thames Water Authority, the freehold on this property sold for £204,000 — nearly twice the reserve price.
A pub in Stepney, E1, also interested the bidders. Entered by the London Residuary Body, “The Peacock” in Aylward Street, a detached public house built in 1881, produces an income of £5,200 pa and is on a 20-year lease to Watney Combe Reid & Co.
The sobering fact that this hostelry is only yards from the Thames Magistrates Court and the local police station does not seem to have discouraged bidders: the property sold for £116,000, some £40,000 above reserve.
