Allsop broke records at its May residential auction, raising £90 million with 81 per cent of the 285 lots offered sold. This is the UK's biggest single-day residential auction, beating the previous record from Allsop Residential's May 2014 sale by £12 million. Some 21 lots sold for more than £1 million.
Auctioneer Gary Murphy says: "This was a very different saleroom from anything we have experienced this year. And it might have been very different were it not for the election result. We have seen a far more stable and confident marketplace today with some very strong prices paid."
Appetite for lots with Permitted Development rights remains. Lot 91, an office building with PD pending for 71 residential units in Dorking, was the highest-value lot. It sold prior, exceeding its guide price of £7.75 million.
"This was no doubt a challenging catalogue, given the number of lots and the significant value of stock offered," says Mr Murphy. "But the level of activity and depth of appetite in the market is reassuring. While, as always, pricing is key to results, this sale bodes well for auctions over the next few years."
● Off-plan sales of apartments continue apace in north-west London. In the £300,000-plus bracket, new homes specialist Preston Bennett has sold 25 per cent of Excelsior Apartments off-plan.
This is a new gated development of eight homes in Northwick Park Road, Harrow, aimed at first-time buyers and investors.
The two-bedroom, two-bathroom units have a fitted kitchen with integrated appliances, an en-suite bathroom next to the carpeted master bedroom, a separate family bathroom, entry phone and allocated parking. Communal facilities include a lift, Sky dish and gardens. Prices start from £390,000.
Also selling off-plan is Asprey Park, with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and penthouses in Ashley Lane, Hendon.
The gated development of 55 flats is arranged in five blocks around landscaped gardens, with underground parking. There are full-height triple-glazed windows, kitchens with integrated appliances and underfloor heating, and the scheme provides a patio garden, terrace or balcony for each apartment. City & Westminster Developments is asking from £300,000 for one-bedroom apartments, from £435,000 for two-bedrooms and from £616,000 for three. Preston Bennett is joint agent with Glentree New Homes.
● From the east to the west of London, The Thackeray Estate is making waves. The developer, owned and run by Brett Palos, stepson of property investor Antony Alberti, and Sir Philip Green, is offering Alexander House, a 0.3-acre site in Parsons Green, SW6. It already brings in rents of £840,000 and totals more than 30,000 sq ft of space. Agent is CBRE.
The Thackeray Estate is a privately owned London-based property investment company, which specialises in repositioning high-quality commercial, mixed-use and residential development projects.
The company's investment portfolio includes more than 400,000 sq ft of freehold property, owned in growth locations across central London.
Originally established in the 1960s, the company was acquired by Mr Palos and Mr Alberti in 2012.
Mr Palos has been involved in the purchase of more than £1 billion of commercial and residential assets over the past five years via Brett Palos Investments. Alberti Holdings was involved in more than 50 mixed-use projects in Chelsea, Battersea and Clapham before he took on the Thackeray Estate.
The Thackeray Estate recently acquired 23-39 Eastcheap, EC3, and plans to transform the parade of six mixed-use properties into office, retail and leisure space, in a project it values at £35 million.
Behind the Walkie Talkie at 20 Fenchurch Street, it provides nearly 30,000 sq ft of commercial and retail space.
