To step on to the property ladder, use the rostrum

Savills' May property auction in London proved a great success, with more than 500 buyers in the auction room. Some 85 per cent of auction lots sold, raising almost £27 million.

Chris-Coleman-Smith, head of Savills auctions, comments: "These results prove that buying at auction can be a great way to acquire property, whether it is to build up an investment portfolio or for first-time buyers; it can be a more viable way of getting on the property ladder."

In Chiswick Common Road, Chiswick, a well-located corner building with a retail unit (let at £13,750 a year) and two one-bedroom vacant flats created a lot of excitement in the room. The lot was guided at £675,000 and sold for £695,000. In fashionable Maida Vale, a good-sized, two-bedroom flat with use of communal gardens was guided at £225,000 and sold for £430,000.

A large three-bedroom split-level London flat on a regulated tenancy sold to a professional investment company for £589,000. The flat is in Marylebone, near Oxford Street and Hyde Park.