Allsop raises £47m from the sale of 52 lots across the UK in commercial auction

• £47m raised at a success rate of 80% in February commercial auction
• Largest lot sold was Larkswood Retail Park in Chingford at over £7,300,000
• 12 lots sold for £1m or more, at an average of £2,878,000

Allsop, the UK’s largest property auction house, raised £47 million from the sale of 52 lots at its first commercial auction of 2024, representing a success rate of 80%.

The February auction saw 12 lots sold for £1 million or more, at an average of £2,878,000, showing continued signs of recovery for commercial and mixed-use properties, particularly for realistically priced assets. While much of the wider private treaty market remains subdued, the most popular lots at the commercial auction saw strong competition from upwards of ten bidders each.

The largest lot sold on the day raised £5,710,000, and is the largest commercial lot sold on the day of the auction by Allsop since The Lady Magazine’s Office in Covent Garden sold at £12,400,000 in February 2019.

Larkswood Retail Park in Chingford (lot 26) which sold prior to auction at over £7,300,000, benefitting from a mix of retail, leisure and alternatives tenants including Nuffield Health, Tesco, Busy Bees Nurseries and Harvester.

Other highlights include:

• Lot 16: 8-9 Loval Lane, The City, EC3 – an 8,068 sq ft office building, let at £358,000pa offering development potential, which sold at £4,260,000 (7.8% and £528psft)
• Lot 21: Farmfoods, Gateshead – let at £100,000pa on a new 20 year lease which sold at £1,450,000 (6.5%)

At the smaller end of the scale, one of the most popular lots was a builders merchants in Bedford (lot 20) let on a short lease at £41,125pa for only two more years which sold at £900,00pa (4%), with the buyers anticipating a strong rental increase in 24 months’ time.

The bulk of the lots sold were retail, confirming buyers’ appetite due to the consolidation of the sector.

George Walker, partner and commercial auctioneer at Allsop, said:

“It is always invigorating for us and clients to see larger lots with so much competitive bidding, often after some months on the market with little success. The auction buyer’s mentality is clear: they are seeking value or opportunity and can be very driven where they see the right mix in which to invest their cash.

“Lack of supply continues to be one of the greatest challenges that motivated buyers face, which itself drives competition to the better lots. Neither the changing political landscape this year nor the costs of money impacts their appetite to buy, so provided the price is right we see this demand continuing. With that in mind, we look forward to building the next auction catalogue which will be released on 1^st March.”

Allsop’s next commercial auction takes place on March 21^st 2024.