South: Clive Emson raises £16 million in first online auction of 2021

Regional property auctioneers Clive Emson raised more than £16m at its first online auction of eight this year.

The firm, covering southern England, sold over 78% of lots offered, with more sales agreed post-auction which are due to exchange this week and which should see the total exceed £17m.

Among the highlights was the freehold sale, for £1,020,000, of an East Sussex country house with 36 main rooms and used as an R&D facility. On five acres, the property is in the village of Mountfield, near the historic town of Battle.

Clive Emson’s Sam Kinloch, director and senior auction appraiser, said: “There were four physical viewings, with prospective purchasers looking to convert the property back into a family home. Interest translated into the acquisition.”

A total of 117 separate e-bids were made for a vacant supermarket in Shaftesbury town centre, North Dorset, with the virtual gavel coming down on £656,000, which was £76,000 above the lower end of the freehold guide price.

Two freehold lock-up garages in Manor Park, East London, went for £24,050 and £23,500 against the £15,000 apiece estimate.

The Frog & Orange, a former pub on 1.11 acres of land to the east of Canterbury, Kent, fetched £454,000.

James Emson, managing director, said: “Our latest online auction shows strong appetite for a diverse range of property across southern England, whatever the market conditions.”

Clive Emson’s next online auction – the second of eight this year – is on March 24, with lot entries closing on March 2. The catalogue will be available to download from March 6.