A strong appetite for mixed-use lots was in evidence at Allsop’s latest commercial sale, as investors considered their options ahead of the 1 April stamp duty increase.
The auction raised £97.6m, with an 87% success rate. Around a fifth of the lots in the catalogue sold for more than £1m each.
A broken-up parade of shops with flats above in Whitton, Middlesex, sold for more than £6m, off a £5.3m guide.
Although many buy-to-let investments will attract an additional 3% in stamp duty from 1 April, the rise will not apply to mixed-use properties.
Auctioneer Duncan Moir said: “The sense in the room was that the taxation of fully residential [properties] will be pushing some people to look at mixed-use [lots] more closely.
“People who were looking at pure buy-to-let in residential [auctions] are now looking at mixed-use because their costs on the way in are lower.”
A freehold shop let to Monsoon Accessorize with flats above, in Putney High Street, SW15, sold for £2.1m off a guide of £1.5m, a gross yield of 3.1%.
Allsop’s retail yields overall have dropped sharply in the past few months, from 2015’s average of 7.8%, to 7.1% at the latest commercial sale.
Moir said the uncertainty of the Brexit referendum outcome and the London mayoral election had increased the appeal of “concrete” property investments in popular shopping areas with reliable, committed tenants.
The sale took place at The Berkeley, SW1, on 21 March.
