While typical mixed-use and income-generating properties always draw in the crowds at regional auction rooms, sometimes it can be the more unconventional and quirky opportunities that really get the phones ringing. Whether this is an old village hall, a chapel, a reading room, lakes, pubs, a WI hall or a police station, these have all proved popular with a good mix of buyers.
Values for larger, more complex lots such as chapels and village halls tend to depend on the state of the property when sold. If planning permission has already been obtained for conversion to residential, then these are most often purchased by developers that have the skills and confidence to tackle these propositions, which frequently present issues of complexity and scale during the building process. Should the building not have planning permission already agreed, the purchase has to be a more speculative one, with seasoned developers willing to use their knowledge of the planning system to judge whether a conversion or alternative use is likely, and bidding accordingly.
For example, in 2016 a Methodist chapel in Exning near Newmarket sold for £342,000 to a local developer who was looking to reconfigure the existing envelope of the building as well as seek planning gain within the curtilage. However, if the building in question is smaller, and therefore less suitable for a traditional residential dwelling, these will often appeal to a wider audience. Usually more affordable, they frequently suit a greater range of purposes, such as storage, workspaces or as an annexe for an adjoining neighbour.
A recently emerging trend has seen increasing numbers of buyers looking to create small holiday let opportunities, which require less space inside and out. Demand for such assets has been driven by the likes of Airbnb. We saw an example of this at the Cheffins auction in March – a former Methodist chapel in Thurston, near Bury St Edmunds, saw competitive bidding despite being only 5m x 7m in size. The chapel was one of the most popular lots on the day, achieving well over its estimate of £30,000-£40,000. It eventually sold to a speculator for £56,000.
Other opportunities that appear to be making increasingly high prices are parcels of woodland. Last month we sold 4.75 acres of mature woodland near Braintree in north Essex, which achieved £63,000 – well in excess of its £45,000 estimate. It sold to a local buyer who wanted it for the space and tranquility that it provided, with no commercial gain in mind. Similarly, in 2016, a much smaller plot of 0.81 acres of woodland in Croydon, near Cambridge, sold for £9,000 to a private buyer with similar motivations. Buyers for woodland are mainly end-users and there has been a marked increase in these as garden spaces consistently reduce. For those with practical benefits in mind, woodland can also be rented out for weddings or camping sites to supplement incomes, or of course the more traditional commercial logging income.
A recently emerging trend has seen increasing numbers of buyers looking to create small holiday let opportunities, demand for which has been driven by the rise of Airbnb
Lakes and fisheries have also proved popular for similar reasons. In 2018, Cheffins sold a coarse fishery in Suffolk, which extended to more than 5.1 acres, including three lakes and two stock pounds, which were used by a local fishing club. This ended up selling after the auction to a husband and wife who were looking to improve the fishing facilities and look at the potential of offering accommodation on the site. A larger lake in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, was subject to frantic bidding at the auction; formerly owned by a national aggregates company, the deep lakes and small woodland copses attracted fishing enthusiasts as well as animal welfare and water sports buyers alike.
The rule of thumb here is that anything that is not run of the mill and would prove difficult to sell via private treaty can really come into its own in an auction. This is making regional auction rooms increasingly the method of choice for institutions to sell unwanted property. Similarly, where supply of an asset is limited and interest is expected to be high, an auction offers a transparent way of managing the competitive bidding, with buyers and sellers enjoying the efficiency of the transaction process.
Ian Kitson is a director at Cheffins
