Savills’ sale this week raised just under £49m, its second-highest total of the year.
The success rate was around 70%, down from 82% at its previous sale in July.
The firm’s highest total so far this year was £72.3m, raised at its February sale. The total is the firm’s highest in the past 20 years.
Savills’ September auction offered 216 lots, with 152 finding buyers.
It the first sale at which Savills – the UK’s second-largest residential auction house – required every bidder to register under new anti-money laundering rules.
The Money Laundering Regulations 2017, which were implemented in June, have been interpreted differently across the sector, with some auction houses, such as Savills, requiring registration and proof of identification, and others asking for this only after a bid has been accepted.
Head of auctions Chris Coleman Smith said: “We are really encouraged by this result. It was a busy room, and we were pleasantly surprised.”
He said the registration of bidders, handled by Savills’ compliance department, went smoothly, with people providing ID on entering the room, then further information if successful with a bid.
A number of owner-occupiers attended the sale, Coleman Smith said. “They have come to auction because agents aren’t offering value for money. They feel auction is a better route to market, more sensibly priced. I think we will see more and more of them.”
The highest amount paid at the sale was £4.5m for a 30-acre parkland estate with country house and 64 stables in Bracknell, Berkshire. Winkfield Park, which was guided at £4.2m, comes with planning approval for the development of a manor house and five cottages.
Coleman Smith said a property worth £9m in Camden, north London, was being lined up for the next Savills sale in November. The property, if sold at that price, would be a record result for the firm.
The sale was held at the London Marriott Hotel, W1, on 25 September.
David Callaghan
Top lots: sold and unsold
Sold
■ The ground rent on a block of 78 flats in Carshalton, Surrey, producing £10,405 pa, was sold for £530,000 from a guide price of £380,000.
■ The reversionary ground rent investment on two terraced house converted into 12 flats in Bayswater, W2, which was guided at £325,000, sold for £382,000. The head lease has 46 years unexpired. Income is fixed at £500 pa.
■ A terraced building in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, with two lock-up shop units producing £14,000 pa, and a vacant flat above, sold for £510,000 off a guide of £385,000.
■ A terraced property in Shepherds Bush, W12, with a fish-and-chip shop and potential for three flats on the upper floors, was purchased for £1.2m.
■ A five-floor end-of terrace property in Battersea, SW8, with four flats and some derelict offices, and an annual income of £28,800, was bought for £1.6m.
■ A former church in Romford, Essex, guided at £235,000, sold for £316,000.
Unsold
■ A portfolio of 18 two-bedroom houses in County Durham, with a rental income of £74,000 pa, and guided at £650,000-plus, went unsold.
■ A former school and shop with two flats near Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, with a guide of £480,000-plus, also went unsold. It is available at £510,000.
