A busy room at Strettons' 10th December auction and some steady post-auction sales helped to end 2018 on a good note by raising over £13.5m.

Notable sales include:

    A vacant freehold place of worship in Forest Gate E7 which sold for £2m

    Two intercommunicating houses in Hove which sold prior for in excess of £1.5m

    A pair of commercial units in Bishops Stortford which sold for £484,000 against a guide of £425,000-£450,000

    A freehold commercial investment in High Wycombe which sold for £336,000 or a gross yield of 6.85%

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Further afield Strettons sold a selection of mixed residential and commercial properties in Weston-Super-Mare at prices ranging from £65,500 to £225,000 and a shop in Loughborough let to Corals for £9,500 which sold for £110,000.    

The final tax blow on second homeowners appears to have impacted on the buy-to-let market with some of the residential lots struggling to reach reserve although several exceeded guide including:

    A vacant freehold house in Tottenham N15 which sold for £420,000 against a guide of £390,000+

    A vacant freehold house in Leyton E10 which sold for £425,000 against a guide of £390,000-£400,000

    A house in Canning Town E16 which sold for £380,000 against a guide of £350,000+

A selection of sites dotted around the country offered on behalf of JCDecaux mostly exceeded guide by a substantial margin, especially two lots with reserves below £100 which sold for £26,500 and £600 in Sheffield and Burton-on-Trent, respectively.

The auction closed with the sale of a selection of freehold ground rents for which the strong appetite continued, and all sold comfortably.

Auction Director, Philip Waterfield, commented on the sale saying, "We are delighted that the strong performance means we have exceeded our 2017 totals, both in terms of the amount raised, which is nearly £64 million, and the number of properties offered, up by 30%."

The next auction will take place on 6th February 2019.