Church buildings help to drive Sheffield-based auction

Sales of more than £5 million were driven by three vacant church buildings at a recent auction held by Sheffield-based property firm Mark Jenkinson & Son.

One of the church buildings sold for almost four times its guide price as the auction drummed up plenty of local interest. The former St Joseph’s RC Church in Staveley, Chesterfield - which was listed at £75,000 – ended up being sold for £295,000, making a decent contribution to the overall sales total of £5.48 million.

The former St Hugh’s of Lincoln RC Church and dwelling, a three-bedroom bungalow in Newbold, sold for £655,000. In Rotherham, meanwhile, St Peters Church in Thrybergh had a guide price of £75,000 but eventually sold for £83,000.

An office on Pitsmoor Road in Sheffield also proved popular. Sold by Mark Jenkinson & Son on behalf of Sheffield City Council, it went for more than double its guide price after drawing in ‘massive local interest’. It was guided at just £150,000, but the imposing Grade II listed building sold for £364,000. 

The auction, which was held at Sheffield United FC’s The Platinum Suite, also saw a detached bungalow in Crosspool go under the hammer. In need of modernisation and set in a plot of around 693 square metres in Hagg Lane, the house had a guide price of £250,000 but sold for £370,000. 

Exceeding their guide prices was also the order of the day for two semi-detached three-bedroom houses elsewhere in Sheffield, with both homes going for more than £100,000. First, a traditional house with a cul-de-sac plot on Hollinsend Avenue, Gleadless sold for £121,000 despite a guide price of between £80,000 and £90,000, and in spite of needing a complete renovation. A semi-detached house on Hurlfield Avenue, meanwhile, sold for £107,000 against a guide price of £78,000.

“Church properties always attract a lot of interest and that was certainly the case here in our biggest auction of the year so far,” Adrian Little, head of the auction department at Mark Jenkinson & Son, said.

“There was also massive local interest in the Grade II listed office building which drove its price to more than double the guide, while investments and modernisation projects all sold well.”

He added: “The market remains strong for modernisation opportunities and properties for investment – there is confidence in ‘bricks and mortar’ and a sense of normality and ‘business as usual’ despite the current political turmoil.

“This was our most successful auction to date this year with total sales of £5.48 million altogether. Thirty nine of the 54 lots offered were sold and we expect to reach sales of up to £6 million in the coming weeks.”