BIDS OVER WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER: 83 bids were made for the former Lighthouse Inn at Capel-le-Ferne, a village on the White Cliffs of Dover, Kent. With uninterrupted sea views, and with residential redevelopment potential, it fetched £797,000 in a bidding war, selling for £197,000 above guide price. The property was among 147 lots listed across England in the March auction of Clive Emson Auctioneers. The firm’s next auction ends on Wednesday, 1 May; bidding opens 48 hours beforehand.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Properties across Kent proved in particular demand in the March auction of Clive Emson Auctioneers, the regional land and property auctioneers covering England.

 Beaming in at £797,000, at £197,000 above guide price following 83 bids, was the former Lighthouse Inn in Capel-le-Ferne, a village on the White Cliffs of Dover, with uninterrupted sea views and with residential redevelopment potential (lot 12).

 Coming in at £604,000 was the former adult education centre in Maidstone, which was £204,000 above guide price (lot 41).

 In another bidding battle, a town centre block of five self-contained flats in Tunbridge Wells fetched £706,500, with a gross yield of 5.4% at £39,180 rent pa (lot 116).

 A mid-terrace property, situated in The Ley of Dover Castle and currently arranged as manager's accommodation and 12 further flats, also drew above-guide bids, this time for £552,000 and equating to a gross yield of nearly 16% at £87,152 rent pa (lot 42).

 Meanwhile a vacant commercial premises in Sittingbourne’s High Street, previously let on a long lease to Iceland and offered freehold, went for £566,000, which was £241,000 above guide price after 118 bids (lot 145).

James Emson, Managing Director, said: “Our March auction listed 147 lots, with a number of bidding battles, including for a former pub on the iconic White Cliffs of Dover. We look forward to listing another diverse range of lots in our May auction, the third of eight this year.”

Elsewhere, a former public loo with a sea view at Long Rock, Penzance, owned by Cornwall Council, sold for £169,000 off a guide price of £20,000-plus, with 109 bids (lot 76).

It was a case of ‘hail and farewell’ as Portsmouth’s former Royal Naval Comrades Club exchanged ownership for £498,000; there is planning consent for conversion into eight residential dwellings (lot 81).

Water damaged, a four-bedroom detached house in the village of Drayton, near Langport in Somerset, fetched £461,000 off a guide price of £380,000 (lot 143).

On an acre of land, a detached cottage at Weeley, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, and put up for sale by executors, was acquired for £340,000 (lot 142).

Among the lots was a parcel of land at Lostock Hall, Preston, Lancashire; bought for £15,000 (lot 43).

The third auction of eight this year by Clive Emson Auctioneers ends on Wednesday, 1 May; bidding opens 48 hours beforehand. Lot entries close on 8 April, with the online catalogue available from 12 April.