Prudential Property Services say they have the Tories’ election success to thank for boosting their sale on June 16 when “property prices soared through the roof in a record-breaking Kent land and property auction”.
An 80-lot sale, at the Great Danes Hotel, Maidstone, raised a total of over £3m, a first for the county, claim the Kent-based auctioneers, previously known as Ward & Partners.
Lots included a former telephone exchange near Seven-oaks which sold for £26,000 and a former repeater station near Sittingbourne which fetched £69,000, both of which were sold on behalf of British Telecom. A former Anglo-Saxon burial ground at Ramsgate changed hands for £4,600.
In Folkestone, a pair of Victorian terraced houses with planning permission for conversion into flats were knocked down at £200,000, while a 0.12-acre building plot near Sittingbourne sold for £60,000.
The Pru’s auctioneer, Clive Emson, said: “Developers and builders seemed to have been waiting for the outcome of the election before buying.
“Another factor was the extremely buoyant property market and people are of the mentality that it is better to buy now rather than later when prices will, almost certainly, have gone up.”
John Stockey of the auctioneers’ Rainham office commented: “The prices really did surprise everyone. There were several people bidding for a good many of the lots, which pushed up prices, and even before the sale good offers were being made.
“We did, however, advise vendors to leave their lots in the sale and the high figures proved we were right.”
