A former neighbourhood office which featured as the first lot in SDL Auctions Bigwood’s first Birmingham auction of the year got the day off to a good start.

SDL Auctions Bigwood raised £15 million from a catalogue of over 150 lots in its February auction at Aston Villa FC.

The former neighbourhood office in Cameronian Croft in Bromford, which was offered with a guide price of £35,000, sold after competitive bidding for £137,000.

There was also strong competition for The Toll House, 115 High Street in Smethwick which sold for £215,000 from a guide price of £44,000-£48,000.

The Toll House, built around 1820, is Grade II listed and part of the local conservation area.

Also in the Black Country, a mixed use property at 55D Toll End Road in Tipton, which is a former post office with one bedroomed self-contained living accommodation above, sold for £74,000 from a guide price of in excess of £45,000.

In Stourbridge, 190-191 High Street in Lye, a pair of single storey retail units, offered with a guide price of £150,000, sold for £151,500.

And distance was no object for the buyer of 28 Chapel Street in Camborne, Cornwall.  This striking commercial property comprises the ground floor, let to Barclays Bank plc, and two floors of office space above which sold for £415,000, having been offered with a guide price of £395,000.

Ian Tudor, head of commercial auctions at SDL Auctions Bigwood, said: “This was another exceptional auction with the bidding getting so hot the fire alarm went off at one point!

“The number of commercial lots offered in our 2018 auctions is set to increase with auction sales representing a powerful method of achieving value in a fixed timescale and completion within a month.

“It was good to get our 2018 programme of seven auctions underway with such a good result. It bodes well for our next auction at the end of March.”