Savills raised more than £55m from the sale of 163 lots at its 21-22 April auction, despite it being “a more challenging sale, with a noticeable degree of caution from bidders”, according to Jeremy Lamb, director in the firm’s auctions London head office.
Insh Island, Clachan Seil, Oban, Argyll and Bute
The sale’s highest-valued asset, a 162,000sq ft, freehold, multi-let industrial estate in Gwynedd, Wales, went under the hammer for £4.7m.
Let to a diverse mix of occupiers including S3 Padel and DF Group, the industrial estate produces an annual rental income of £564,356.
Another high-value lot was a vacant freehold site with consent for a mixed‑use scheme in Islington, north London, which sold for £1.75m.
In Whitley Bay, north-east England, a freehold parade of 10 shops with self‑contained upper parts producing an annual rental income of £115,100 sold for £1.03m.
Meanwhile, a 90‑acre private island in the Inner Hebrides off Scotland’s west coast sold for £436,000, more than £100,000 above its guide price.
Some of the residential highlights included a freehold mid‑terrace property in Clapham, south-west London, arranged as two flats with three and four bedrooms and let at an annual rental income of £80,100, which sold for £1.11m.
Finally, a one‑bedroom lower ground-floor flat in Holland Park, west London, in need of modernisation but with a private garden, fetched £685,000.
Lamb said buyers were particular cautious about residential lots outside of London. “The combination of more subdued economic growth and increasing borrowing costs has been weighing on confidence and global geopolitical tensions have only added to that uncertainty,” he said.
“However, auctions continue to play an increasingly important role in the market, with more sellers drawn to this route by the transparency and certainty the auction process provides.”
Nicholson Boyd, head of Savills commercial auctions, added: “While pricing sensitivity remains evident across the commercial market, buyers are still keen to transact, albeit with a more selective approach.
“Encouragingly, we are beginning to see a gradual improvement in appetite for commercial assets, as investors take a longer‑term view on income and value.
“This was underlined by the successful sale of portfolio lots, demonstrating that well‑priced opportunities underpinned by strong fundamentals continue to attract competitive interest.”
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