Rock-bottom starting prices of ‘nil’ have been given to a bumper range of almost 40 homes across northern England at Bond Wolfe Auctions next auction later this month.

The bargain basement reserve prices are on properties appearing at the Birmingham auction from Burnley, Cleveland, County Durham, Cumbria, Doncaster, Grimsby, Hartlepool, Liverpool, Peterlee, Rotherham, Salford and Sunderland.

The zero tags have been tied to the lots because they are boarded up, in need of serious renovation, or only available for external viewings.

 In Cumbria, the ‘nil’ properties include a pair of neighbouring three-bedroomed semi-detached houses at 9 and 11 Grange Road in Flimby, near Maryport, that have both been declared structurally unsafe and the local authority has given written permission for demolition.

 Down the coast at Cleator Moor, another ‘nil’ lot is a three-storey Grade II listed, mixed use property at 13 High Street, with a three-bedroom home above a former hair salon.

 Over in County Durham, the ‘nil’ lots include a two bedroom mid terraced house at 11 Jane Street in Stanley, a boarded up three bedroom mid terraced house at 26 Twelth Street in Hordern and another at 5 Argent Street in nearby Peterlee.

 In Liverpool there is a 2 bedroom mid terraced house at 30 Whithorn Street and another a couple of miles away at 14 Tudor Street.

 In Stoke-on-Trent there is a two bedroom semi-detached house at 352 Turnhurst Road, Packmoor, that is in need of renovation work throughout, while down in Bridgend, in South Wales, there is a three bedroom end terraced house at 24 Prospect Place in Ogmore Vale, again in need of major renovation.

In addition there are nine plots of land, listed in three lots of three each, south of High Street, Porth, in South Glamorgan, close to a property known as Oak Tree Rise on Gwaun Bedw. With planning permission they could be put to a variety of uses and all three lots have a guide price of ‘nil’.

 Also in the auction catalogue are three properties with a guide price of just £1 each:  a two bedroom mid terraced house at 23 Brook Street, Bishop Auckland in County Durham; a three  bedroom mid terraced house at 13, Margaret Street, Ludworth in Durham; and a two bedroom mid terraced house at 17 Stephen Street in Hartlepool.

 Gurpreet Bassi, chief executive of Bond Wolfe Auctions, said: “Each of these properties obviously needs substantial investment, time and effort to return them into decent homes, but for the right investors they could be great bargains.”

 Mr Bassi explained that despite the ‘nil’ reserve prices, prospective owners would still have to pay the standard auction administration fee of £1,074 including VAT for each property, and each property was likely to increase in price because of intense bidding.

 He added: “It’s becoming quite a thing in auctions to give properties ‘nil’ or £1 reserve prices because sometimes they really do need a bump-start to get the right potential bidders involved.

 “But I’ve never had an auction with as many as 38 houses with ‘nil’ reserve tags, and this range of properties is likely to attract strong interest from potential buyers.”

 The ‘nil’ reserve price properties are among 215 lots going under the hammer in Bond Wolfe Auctions’ sale on Thursday 27 February at the regular venue of the Holte Suite at Aston Villa FC.

 The auction will start at the earlier time of 10am, in order to cater for the record number of lots to be offered on the day.