Determined novice gets the plot

auction-gavel.jpegLambert Smith Hampton raised just over £10m from an “emotional” sale at which a novice outbid a developer for a plot of land adjoining her house.

Of the 55 bids offered, 46 were sold – an 84% success rate.

They included a 1.3 acre freehold plot in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, guided at £30,000 that sold for £96,000 to a neighbour who had waited 40 years for the land to be offered. She fended off telephone bids from a developer, to a round of applause.

Head of auctions Oliver Childs said: “It was quite an emotional sale, and shows that if you get your pricing right, you will find all types of buyers.”

Four former Natwest banks sold at well above guide prices, including a three-floor building in Hayes, Middlesex, with empty flats above and an ATM that provides a £5,000 pa income. It sold for £660,000 off a £375,000 guide, reflecting “demand for the short supply of stock in greater London,” said Childs.

The sale took place on 7 December at Le Meridien Piccadilly, W1.