Under the hammer round up – the latest from the world of property auctions

High yield properties in Coventry continue to sell

A broad number of properties in Coventry continue to be snapped up by investors from across the UK due to their high yields.

With properties retuning a yield of up to 13.5%, investors from London and the Home countries are being lured to Coventry to capitalise on the region’s highly profitable property market.

The focus of buy-to-let investors has shifted away from London in recent years, where both rental and housing prices are in decline due to current political uncertainty and the growing housing demand within the capital – resulting in investors looking north in the hope of locating greater yields.

Loveitts reported a record yield for a property it sold; 220 Burnaby Road in Coventry returned 13.5% of what it was bought for each year, generating £19,800 per annum. The three to four-bedroom tenanted property resides in a residential area and features a garden to the front and a garage to the rear.

Another property in Coventry that returned a promising yield was a tenanted two to three-bedroom terraced property situated on St. Margarets Road, Stoke, Coventry. Returning a yield of 8%, the property generates £14,860 per annum, featuring a rear garden and residing in a highly sought-out area of Coventry.

“The fact that investors are coming from outside of the Coventry area to capitalise on the high yield rates demonstrates the potential of the local area,” Loveitts director and auctioneer, Sally Smith, commented.

She said the city has always been a sought-after area for property investors within the region due to its reasonable property prices and its well-known status as a university city. This, and several corporate giants such as JLR and Severn Trent being situated nearby has led to rental properties within the city’s borders consistently churning out high yield rates over the years.

“Warwick University is reportedly set to spend £400 million over the next four years to cope with its predicted growth and figures show that Coventry University has increased student numbers by 24% since 2014/15,” Smith continued.

“This rise in the region’s student population has factored into the amount of high-yield properties up for grabs in recent years as there is a growing demand for suitable housing within a relatively compact radius.”

“With yields from our sold properties reaching as high as 13.5%, investors are witnessing a healthy return on their investment that is well above the average, so it comes of no surprise that seasoned investors from London and the South” are seeking to grasp bargain deals within the Coventry area.”

She explained that the competitiveness of the London property market in recent years has caused house prices to soar ahead of rents. And, with ‘investment fever’ driving property prices up by more than 50% over the past four years, rents have simultaneously only risen by 10% over the same period, causing yields to lower.

“As a result of this we see this trend of investors coming from outside the region looking to invest in a Coventry property set to continue,” she concluded.

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Strettons’ May auction catalogue now available

The catalogue for Strettons’ next national property auction is now available to view online.

The wide range of lots feature a diverse mix of 76 properties located across the UK, from a ground rent investment in Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland with a guide price of £16,000, to a freehold commercial hotel investment in Brighton guided at £1.3 million to £1.34 million.

Other lots include a five-storey building in Clapton E5 arranged as four flats and a ground floor café producing £72,500 per annum with a guide price of £1.3 million-plus; a four-storey terraced property in Hendon NW9 comprising a restaurant and eight self-contained studio flats guided at £1 million to £1.1 million and, in Barking, Essex, a four-storey building comprising two flats and an amusement arcade guided at £895,000.

Three adjoining industrial units in Tonbridge, Kent producing a total annual income of £82,000 are being offered as a single lot with a guide price of £950,000-plus.

The sale also features several freehold vacant development sites with mostly residential planning permission. In Grays, Essex, a site with planning for nine residential units and an A1 retail unit has a guide price of £650,000 to £700,000.

Another site with consent for five houses and a children’s nursery is guided at £425,000 to £450,000 and, in nearby Aveley, a site with planning for six residential units also has a guide price of £425,000 to £450,000.

The auction will feature a range of residential properties, with the majority located in Greater London, including a substantial Grade II listed with a guide of £700,000-plus, and two-part occupied flats in Stoke Newington N16 guided at £750,000-plus. There is also a former restaurant in Ealing W5 with residential development potential guided at £800,000-plus.

There is also another series of land investments located across the country sold on behalf of advertising agency JC Decaux, with prices ranging from £9,000 to £90,000.

“The sale features a wide range of properties with some unique investment and development opportunities that will appeal to investors and private buyers,” Philip Waterfield, director and auctioneer at Strettons commented.

“Whilst there is hesitation in the market at the moment, this can present opportunities for investors, especially for those taking a long-term view on their investment strategy.”

Strettons’ next auction will take place on Tuesday 21 May 2019 at 11am in the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in Holborn, Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5DA.

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Fierce bidding at Emson’s May auction

Clive Emson Land and Property Auctioneers is reporting sales of £14 million from its spring 2019 sale.

The auction – the third of eight sales this year taking place across five days in five venues – achieved a sale rate in excess of 70% after cataloguing 138 lots.

James Emson, managing director of Clive Emson, puts the successful outcome down to sensible guiding and competitive bidding.

“The professional advice provided by our experienced regional teams helps to secure a vast array of varied lots which in turn attracts potential buyers to our salesrooms in their droves,” he said.

"At the core of our business is the experience and honesty to recommend realistic guide and reserve prices which makes this transparent method of sale work for both buyers and sellers alike. Of course, some lots prove particularly popular and it is one of the joys of being in this business to witness prolonged and competitive bidding."

Highlights of the spring auction included:

• A four-storey mixed commercial/residential premises in Torquay’s Union Street sold for £267,500. The lower two floors are occupied by an estate agent at £22,500 per annum with the flat above vacant.
• A two-bedroom bungalow in need of upgrading but with potential on a 0.04-acre plot in Aldershot went under the hammer for £200,000.
• A semi-detached house needing modernisation in popular Chertsey, Surrey, went for £249,000.
• Saleroom bidding let to a 1.45-hectare (3.59-acre) plot of grazing land in a sought-after Bucks Hill hamlet near Kings Langley, Herts, to sell for £194,000 freehold.
• Another two-bedroom detached bungalow needing improvement but with North Downs views in Aylesford, Kent sold for £245,000 on the instructions for the Power of Attorney.

Clive Emson’s new series of fixed date, real time online auctions conclude on June 20.

The firm holds a regional auction at five locations every six weeks. Its fourth sale of 2019 starts at 11am at the following venues:

- Essex & North and East London – Monday, June 10 at the Chelmsford City Racecourse, Chelmsford.

- Sussex & Surrey – Tueday June 11 at the Hilton Brighton Metropole, Brighton.

- Kent & SE London – Wednesday, June 12 at the Clive Emson Conference Centre, Detling, Maidstone, Kent.

- West Country – Thursday June 13 at the St Mellion International Resort, Saltash.

- Hampshire & Isle of Wight – Friday June 14 at the Solent Hotel at Whiteley, near Fareham.

Online Auction – Thursday June 20: www.cliveemson.co.uk/online