SEA-SY DOES IT: This cliffside chalet bungalow near Penzance, Cornwall, which featured in TV’s Poldark, starring Aidan Turner as Captain Ross Poldark and Eleanor Tomlinson as Poldark’s wife, sold for £423,000 (lot 69) in the milestone 250th auction by Clive Emson Auctioneers. A total of 175 lots were listed across southern England in the June auction by the firm, which started up 35 years ago in 1989.
Freehold properties with rental flats ticked the pre-General Election box for investors at Clive Emson Auctioneers’ milestone 250th auction.
Leading the investment dash by buy-to-let investors was the purchaser of a block of six flats in Chatham, Kent, which went for £460,000, with a gross yield of nearly 10% on the £45,240 rental pa (lot 60).
In Kent’s Sheerness, a block of three unoccupied flats sold for £181,000 (lot 95) and, again with vacant possession, a block of four two-bedroom flats at St George’s Hall, Sandown, Isle of Wight, fetched £298,000 (lot 171).
Currently let at £8,400 pa, a block of two large three-bedroom flats at Herne Bay, Kent, was purchased for £307,000, with one flat vacant (lot 37).
James Emson, Managing Director, said: “With inflation down to 2.3% from the generational high of 11.1% two years ago, and the 16-year-high interest rate of 5.25% at a plateau, buy-to-let investors are viewing our auctions with an eagle eye for investment opportunities that deliver returns from rental income which outpace interest rates and inflation.
“Regarding the General Election, which takes place the day before our July auction ends, we are not hearing about uncertainty from clients – many of them have bought property in difficult economic times since the financial crash in 2008. They have not regretted the decision because they took the long-term view.”
As mentioned above one of the auction highlights was the sale of a cliffside chalet-style bungalow which featured in TV’s Poldark, the historical Cornish mining drama series. With “breathtaking views”, the property at St Levan, near Penzance, overlooking Porthcurno beach, went for £423,000 on the 18th bid, £28,000 above guide price.
Bidding wars were seen with a number of properties.
A ground floor shop with a flat above, in the residential Port Hall area of Brighton and with an estimated rental of £23,000 pa, sold for £377,000, which was £107,000 more than guide price; 94 bids were made (lot 23).
In need of refurbishment, a two-bedroom cottage with an adjoining clock tower near Crowborough, East Sussex, attracted 67 bids to take the purchase price to £259,999, which was £109,999 above guide price (lot 57).
Also in need of refurbishment, a bungalow in Newborough, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, received 88 bids. The property sold for £258,000, more than double the guide price (lot 76).
Similarly, a run-down bungalow in Wandle Bank, Beddington, Croydon, with outbuildings and land, drew interest, with the final bid of 14 coming in at £426,000 against the guide price of £400,000 (lot 154).
Topping the bill for the highest purchase price at the June auction, the fourth of eight this year by Clive Emson Auctioneers, was a six-bedroom detached house in Faversham, Kent, which fetched £610,000 (lot 2).
By contrast, a piece of land providing access to a number of light industrial units in Launceston, Cornwall, and partly used for informal parking, was acquired for £10 (lot 108).
There have been more than £3 billion in sales for clients since Clive Emson Auctioneers’ first auction 35 years ago, in December 1989.
The next auction ends on 24 July, with bidding live from 22 July.
Lot entries close on 1 July, with the catalogue available from 5 July.