With a guide price of £1.75m to £2m, a parcel of industrial land in Essex is one of the highlights in the July listing of 118 lots across southern England by Clive Emson Auctioneers.
Thurrock Council has instructed the disposal of 10.3 acres of land at the southern end of Purfleet Industrial Park, close to the Dartford Crossing and let at £28,800 per annum (lot 71).
James Emson, Managing Director, said: “This is another sizeable instruction from the local authority – another piece of commercial land locally sold in a fierce bidding war for £5.4m through us in the March auction, with demand driven by the strategic location and income/capital growth potential.”
He added: “Our July auction covers all budgets, including for outgoing Prime Ministers who may suddenly require a new affordable home away from the precarious tenancy of Number 10 Downing Street.
“Indeed, given the mass resignation of government ministers, the highest in 90 years, lot 10 might be of particular interest to politicians because you can conveniently take the whole house with you each time if job security is a constant issue.”
With a guide price of £30,000-plus, the fully fitted and insulated two-bedroom house near Ashford in Kent, is made from two shipping containers and can be placed anywhere, subject to consents.
Just under 1.7 acres of land at the mainline railway station town of Swanley, Kent, with planning permission for 18 homes, is guided at £1.5m to £1.6m. The instruction is from Sevenoaks District Council (lot 84).
Guided at £980,000 to £1m, a 0.77-acre development site in Gillingham, Kent, has planning permission for seven houses (lot 44).
For those with a head for conversion heights, a former water booster tower is guided freehold at £5,000-plus and is located at Danethorpe, near Newark in Nottinghamshire (lot 42).
One of the more unusual lots is Fort Gilkicker, a Victorian fort overlooking The Solent, with planning permission granted for 26 residential units with “outstanding views” and guided at £1.5m-plus (lot 59).
James said: “Construction work started in 1863 and took eight years to complete, with the finished fort providing a semi-circular firing arc from 22 gun placements, over the eastern end of Stokes Bay, Gosport.
“This was to augment the other forts and defences constructed in the area by order of the then Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, and known as the Palmerston Forts amid sabre-rattling threats of a French invasion which never materialised.”
Slideshow: https://www.cliveemson.co.uk/properties/235/59/
Drone footage: https://www.cliveemson.co.uk/properties/235/59/
One lot has potential naked attraction – a three-acre former naturist site at Bethersden, near Ashford in Kent, is guided at £90,000 – £100,000 (lot 109).
On the investment front, a block of four Grade II-listed flats in Margate, Kent, has a guide price of £290-300,000 and generates £19,260 annually – equivalent to a gross annual rental yield of 6.4% at £300,000 (lot 46).
Built in 1843, and guided at £180,000-plus, former St Pauls Church in Penzance, Cornwall, has consent for three dwellings (lot 47). Video: https://www.cliveemson.co.uk/properties/235/47/
The residential property with the lowest guide price in the July auction is a currently uninhabitable end-terrace house at Crediton, Exeter – £15,000-plus (lot 53). Video: https://www.cliveemson.co.uk/properties/235/53/
A six-floor boutique guest house in Brighton, East Sussex, has 14 en-suite bedrooms and is guided at £700-£750,000 (lot 97).
Clive Emson Auctioneers’ online auction ends on Thursday, 28 July, with bidding live two days beforehand.
Ends