Anyone attending Clive Emson's last auction (161 lots catalogued) at any of the five venues would have seen packed rooms, £18.5 million achieved, an average of 81% success and many many prospective buyers leaving empty handed having been outbid!

Those buy to let investors seemed undeterred in their desire to acquire their first or indeed to add more suitable properties to existing portfolios, despite changes to BTL mortgage interest relief changes and additional stamp duty fees, but sellers need to be realistic about guides and reserves in order to make them attractive to this sector of the market. We saw many ‘lovely looking’ properties or those in super locations attract the owner occupier, who may have been in rented accommodation waiting for their ideal lot to come to the market.

It was nice to see some of the lots of land with planning sell for respectable prices with builders looking to stock up, perhaps getting ready for 2017 and the spring markets. Grazing land, as always attracted good interest and there were several lots which offered potential for the future which are seen by many as a calculated punt.

Commercial lots, whether vacant or let also sold well. The catalogue offered, once again a good selection of garages and ground rents again to competitive bidding.

The more unusual lots this time (pictured above) included Lot 86 – a timber Former Church Hall at Ruckinge, Kent, offered with a guide of £55-60,000 and sold at £164,000. Lot 131 - the eight railway carriages, previously a holiday letting enterprise, in Dawlish, Devon, which was guided at £125-175,000 sold in the room at £261,000.