Allsop has raised more than £90m from its latest sale, the UK’s biggest residential auction held on a single day.
Out of 286 lots on offer, 230 were sold, reflecting an 81% success rate. Overall, 179 lots were sold on the day, and 21 lots went for more than £1m.
Auctioneer Gary Murphy said: “This was a very different sales room to anything we have experienced this year. And it might have been different were it not for the election result.”
The top lot was a 35,900 sq ft office building in Dorking, Surrey, with permitted development rights for 71 flats. It was sold prior to the auction at more than its guide price of £7.7m, to a company with the capacity to reconfigure it extensively, said auctioneer Richard Adamson.
Changes to the regime governing office-to-residential development rights have prompted mixed reactions among investors, he added.
Some are “aggressively” pursuing development opportunities before the rights are expected to expire in May next year, while others are taking a more cautious approach, he said.
The £90.7m raised is £12m more than the previous record for a one-day residential
auction, set by Allsop’s May 2014 sale.
The auction took place on 28 May at The Cumberland, W1.
Allsop conducted the top five UK one-day resi auctions
| Date | No of | Result |
|---|---|---|
| lots sold | (£m) | |
| 28 May ‘15 | 230 | 90.7* |
| 29 May ‘14 | 264 | 77.9 |
| 31 May ‘07 | 246 | 68 |
| 11 Dec ‘07 | 316 | 67.2 |
| 27 Mar ’14 | 255 | 61.9 |
