Buy-to-let properties still in demand

James Emson of Clive Emson Auctioneers

Rental investment properties have gone under the hammer in Clive Emson’s penultimate auction of the year.

They were among 105 lots listed by the land and property auctioneers across southern England, from Essex to Cornwall.

James Emson, Managing Director, said: “With inflation warnings spooking markets, buy-to-let landlords continue to look to investment properties for returns that outperform paltry interest received from cash savings. This was borne out by many of the bids made.”

Established 32 years ago by Chairman Clive Emson in Kent, the company recorded £16m-plus worth of sales in the November 3 auction, with a success rate of more than 70%.

Highlights included a high-yielding, mixed-use investment, with sea views, in the heart of Brighton’s fashionable The Lanes. The property at 2 Ship Street, which produces £20,000 pa from a restaurant and in the region of £120,000 pa through holiday lets booked with Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo, went for £1,055,000 (lot 25).

Number 2 Ship Street, Brighton

A terraced property in Hythe, Kent, is let to an accountancy at £10,000 pa, rising to £12,000 pa from February, and sold for £281,000 against a guide of £220,000-plus (lot 102).

This property in Hythe, Kent, sold for £281,000 against a guide of £220,000-plus

Generating £8,400 per annum, a two-bedroom leasehold property in Gosport, near Portsmouth, was purchased for £102,000 (lot 29).

Sold for £102,000

Meanwhile a retail shop in Petherton, Somerset, which generates £14,650 pa, fetched £172,000 off a £110-120,000 estimate (lot 86).

This property in Somerset sold for £172,000

Let at £46,800 per annum, a freehold mixed investment of four flats and a retail unit in Bitterne Park, Southampton, went for £545,000 (lot 49).

This freehold mixed investment of four flats and a retail unit in Bitterne Park, Southampton, went for £545,000

Away from investment properties, former public toilets in Tonbridge, Kent, were acquired for £122,000; 45 bids were made, with the property at a busy roundabout junction going for £72,000 above estimate (lot 39).

Former toilets sold for £72,000

On half an acre at Purley, Croydon, a 3,000 sq ft trade counter unit attracted a purchase price of £1,560,000 (lot 70).

More than £1.5m was paid for this at the Clive Emson sale

In an interesting aside, Rob Marchant, Clive Emson’s Hampshire auctioneer, sold a three-bedroom house in Gosport just a few doors along from where his grandparents had bought in 1935 – for the princely sum of £310. The November auction house went for £190,000, a 26.6% increase on the guide price (lot 79).

Clive Emson’s next auction, the last of eight this year, takes place on December 15; entries for lots close on November 22 and the catalogue is online from November 26.

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