Auctioneers moved quickly to put contingency plans into practice this week, after the government called on everyone to avoid gatherings and crowded places to fight the spread of Covid-19.
Allsop, Savills and Acuitus will all run their March sales via live video streaming and with remote bidding only, a service usually taken up only by those who cannot attend their London ballroom auctions in person.
Instead of rubbing shoulders with fellow investors as they bid, buyers will bid by phone, proxy or online. However, they will be able to watch the auctioneer conducting the sale by video. Regional auctioneer Clive Emson is also preparing for a similar move.
Allsop said 25% of its buyers already use these remote bidding methods.
Its commercial sale is scheduled to take place on 30 March, and its residential sale on 31 March. Savills and Acuitus are both preparing for sales on 26 March.
Bidders for all auctions will need to register prior to the event. Savills said it had made a number of changes to make this process as straightforward as possible.
“Until yesterday we were expecting members of the public to attend the auction and several potential bidders had expressed a definite wish to attend,” an Acuitus spokesman said on Tuesday (17 March). “But that has all changed with the government’s changed guidance.”
George Walker, partner and auctioneer at Allsop, said the move was necessary to protect the welfare of staff, clients and buyers. At least 50% of its staff are currently working from home, but the auction team will come into the office to run the sales. “Clients are pretty sanguine. Buyers want to buy,” he said. “We know a lot about every single person who looks at a property we’re selling – we’re monitoring interest. I expect there will be some clients who will get nervous and there may be lots withdrawn, but many will want to carry on. The challenge is that if you withdraw now, will it be worth more or less at a later date?”
Walker said the firm would wait to decide on how to proceed with sales in May and July, and would consider holding more auctions towards the end of the year as an alternative. He said there were now “many factors on the minds of property investors”.
A coffee shop, for example, would now be viewed differently given that people are being encouraged not to go out of their houses.
Walker said the escalation of the coronavirus had prompted plenty of discussion about the future of in-room auctions. “We will always adapt,” he said, “But it is important to remember that this is a phase. Buyers and sellers want to continue to trade. The room gives people a deadline. That has an appeal.”
Clive Emson said it would close to the public its March regional auctions scheduled to take place between 23 and 27 March in Chelmsford, Maidstone, Fareham, Saltash and Brighton, although the company has yet to make a final decision about venues.
“We have the option of moving the auctions online but we are most likely to continue to hold them and live stream them to enable bids from telephone, internet and proxies,” said James Emson, managing director of Clive Emson.
“Some of our venues are in sports grounds which may not be entirely suitable for the changed circumstances, but we are currently taking legal advice about how we fulfil our legal requirements to vendors both through agency agreements and under section 5B of the Landlord & Tenant Act.”
Essential Information Group, which supplies an online auction platform to auction houses such as SDL and Paul Fosh, said that it was in discussions with 15 auctioneer clients about adding or extending services owing to the coronavirus crisis.
Online property marketplace Bamboo, which provides online bidding technology to the likes of Clive Emson and Hunters, said that it was also talking to new clients about adding online bidding as part of a new wider contingency plan.
