SDL Auctions Bigwood’s May auction at Aston Villa FC raised over £16.4 million, with strong bidding for residential lots in a very busy auction room.

Gurpreet Bassi, head of residential auctions, said: “Our third auction of the year in Birmingham sold 100% of lots offered by Birmingham City Council and successfully sold 100% of ground rents .”

One of the most eagerly anticipated properties was the House on the Hill, 64 Rosemary Road in Little Aston, Sutton Coldfield, a substantial freehold detached property with planning permission to be redeveloped to create a 22 bedroomed care facility and sold prior to the auction.

Mr Bassi said: “We were inundated with requests for viewings and had several offers on this property. We were very pleased with the result.”

It had a guide price of in excess of £700,00 and sold for just over £1.1m.

Elsewhere in the auction, a three bedroomed, semi-detached house in Halesowen was typical of the competitive bidding seen in the auction room.

The property at 54 Witley Avenue in Halesowen was offered with a guide price in excess of £70,000 and when the hammer fell it had sold for £171,000.

In Coventry, a three bedroomed, end of terrace house achieved nearly three times its guide price. 84 Ashington Grove, Whitley in Coventry had a guide price of £50,000 and sold for £149,000.

A four bedroomed, semi-detached house 4 Thompson Street in Willenhall had a guide price in excess of £75,000 and the hammer finally fell for £158,000.

A semi-detached three bedroomed house in Wolverhampton, 25 Oaklands Green in Bilston, which had a guide price of £19,000-£24,000 sold for £97,000.

Gurpreet Bassi said: “We raised over £16.4 million in our May auction and achieved an 85% success rate which bodes well for our next auction where we expect another exciting catalogue to bring in eager buyers.”