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Property portal Zoopla reported in February that the housing market is off to its strongest start in three years, with 12% more new sales agreed in January 2025 than in January 2024. Further good news for sellers is that prices are also up, with the boost in sales supporting a modest 2% rise.
This sees the average house price now at £267,700, £5,200 more than in 2024, partly due to first-time buyers trying to get on the property ladder before the stamp duty hikes are implemented in April. However, moves to ‘simplify responsible lending’ being put forward as part of the Government’s ‘growth mission’ may see a further jump in prices. Bank of England figures showed 66,526 mortgage deals being given the green light in December, up from 66,061 the previous month.
Are you considering selling your land or property?
Robinson & Hall Auctions may be able to help you. With an auction every other month, you could sell your land or property within 8 weeks. Contact the team to discuss whether your land or property is suitable for auction and they will be able to carry out a no-obligation auction appraisal by visiting the lot and discussing the options with you.
Lots which have sold particularly well at our auctions are small parcels of land, rental properties, disused buildings, properties with a short lease, properties where value can be added, and farms or houses which require lots of work.
View the latest auction results here.
To book a no-obligation auction appraisal or to find out how the auction department can help you, please contact Charles.
2024 has been another great year for the Auction department at Robinson & Hall. Our aims for this year, in addition to continuing our growth trajectory, were to expand the team, develop new relationships with estate agents to introduce suitable property, and to try to make the process of both selling and buying at auction less intimidating and more accessible.
Our growth has continued, and, already with an auction to go, we have exceeded the number of lots offered in 2023 by 133 and the number sold by 115. The percentage of lots sold is 87%, with the expectation that after the December auction, we will have a 20% improvement over last year.
The lot which performed the best over the guide price in 2024, was a three-acre paddock at Felmersham, which sold for nearly six times the guide price.
The fastest selling lot in 2024 was a flat in Shortstown. Sold as a late lot for a desperate seller, it was sold for £71,000 more than his aborted sale and just 13 days after we were instructed to sell!
The team was expanded at the beginning of June with the appointment of Lee Jackson who joined us as an Auction Lister. As an ex-professional golfer and coach, Lee possesses a natural ability to connect with people, and he has started on the long journey of gaining a broad knowledge of property auctions extremely well. New relationships have been formed by David Howard, our Business Development Manager, that concluded with successful sales on introductions from agents in Towcester, Tring, High Wycombe and Wolverton.
To make the process of buying and selling through our auction more accessible, we took a critical look at our website. We decided to start from scratch to create a completely new site with useful guides and contacts for both buyers and sellers, and one that is just as easy to navigate on mobile devices as it is on a laptop or PC. This took much longer than we had originally anticipated as our ideas expanded, and we were undertaking this work in amongst our normal duties of appraising property, reporting to potential clients, building catalogues, hosting open-house viewings and holding our auction at the Delta Marriott Hotel in Milton Keynes every two months. We were finally ready to launch the new site at the start of November and we are delighted with the response from people using it.
If you would like to book a no obligation auction appraisal to find out if your land or property is suitable for auction, then please contact me.
Another successful auction was had in August at our venue, the Delta Marriott Hotel in Milton Keynes. We hold our bi-monthly auctions there and buyers can bid in-room, online, by proxy or by telephone.
The full list of results can be found below:
We sell a variety of lots at our auctions, but those which sell particularly well are:
Have you seen our auction in action? Watch one of our lots sell at our August auction for £92,000 over the guide price.
We are now taking lots for our next auction. To find out if your land or property is suitable or to book a free, no obligation auction appraisal, then please call 01234 362899 or email auctions@robinsonandhall.co.uk
David Jones, Auctioneer at Robinson & Hall Auctions, provides a summary of what to expect at the August auction.
David comments about the auction market: “Obviously, I am a passionate advocate for auction sales. The speed, competition and certainty of the process suits most properties and most sellers. The transparency and the lack of fuss gives confidence to buyers.
Nevertheless, there are times in the property cycle when auction sales really come into their own. This is just such a time.
The market remains keen, but it is also cautious. There are plenty with cash looking for investments, but we all know that those needing to borrow will be less competitive. Everybody still wants to press on with selling and buying, but nobody wants to make a wrong move. Business goes on, with care.
We saw this in action at our June auction sale where the crowd in the saleroom was the largest since lockdown, and bidding for sensibly priced lots was enthusiastic. All bar two lots were sold on the day of the sale, but both those lots were sold a few days later to give an overall record of 100%. Both sellers and buyers walked away happy with their trades.
Our August sale looks to be equally popular, with more lots entered than for some time. We offer the usual mix of development projects, investment opportunities and land.”
We shall be pleased to see you in the saleroom on 3rd August. The auction takes place at 2.30 pm at the Delta Marriott Hotel, Milton Keynes. The catalogue can be downloaded here. Please join us on the livestream link if you are unable to attend in person, but do not forget to register with us beforehand if you intend to bid via livestream. Full details are available on our website.
We are now taking lots for our next auction. To find out if your land or property is suitable or to book a free, no obligation auction appraisal, then please call 01234 362899 or email auctions@robinsonandhall.co.uk
David Jones, Auctioneer at Robinson & Hall Auctions, provides a must watch summary of the June auction.
The room was jam-packed, and buyers were nervous, yet very much engaged and eager to discover whether they were going to win their preferred lot. We had 17 lots offered, once again a mixture of choice, and 14 lots sold in the room, one selling prior and two selling following. See the full results below:
One of our partner agents, Inskip and Davie, were presented with a T-shirt emblazoned with ‘100%’ to celebrate their 50th sold property. We have been working with them for over 10 years and sold all the properties they have referred.
We are now taking lots for our next auction. To find out if your land or property is suitable or to book a free, no obligation auction appraisal, then please call 01234 362899 or email auctions@robinsonandhall.co.uk
The impact from the political turmoil in September 2022 triggered a strong reaction within the money markets and with continuing rises in interest rates (10 successive ones to date), increased borrowing costs have certainly had a dampening effect on the property market, with considerable caution being exercised by many buyers. Following the first lock down in 2020, the combination of low interest rates, pent up demand and buyers with increased savings saw a surge in prices, particularly since there was a shortage of available stock. However, Rightmove reported that for the first time since the financial crash, average asking prices hadn’t increased at the start of 2023 and this adjustment in the market perhaps takes it back to pre-pandemic levels with added low levels of confidence.
One of the benefits of auction is that it helps to create a microclimate around any individual property. In attaching an attractive guide price, buyers come in ever greater numbers to the viewing sessions and in seeing strong interest from others, it helps to dispel anxiety about the future, giving greater confidence to bid higher and higher.
Lots are marketed within our catalogue, on the website and on all the major property portals, such as Rightmove and Zoopla. We also offer three open house viewing slots to applicable lots where anyone interested is welcome to just come along to view. People then have an opportunity to not only see the property but to see what the level of interest there is from other prospective buyers and to ask us questions about the property and the auction. This is an important point where we, the auctioneers, interact with buyers so we chose not to outsource this role to external viewing agents but to conduct these viewings ourselves, with full time staff from the auction department, in the weeks prior to the auction.
A good example of how well a property can sell was demonstrated in our February auction when we sold Dunster Gardens in Bedford. During a cold snap in December, this vacant four bedroom detached house suffered significant water damage following burst pipes. The agent who had been trying to sell the house with an asking price of £385,000 felt that given the damage and the owner’s need for a smooth sale now they were living in the USA, the auction route would be best so he recommended us. After having inspected the property and sent our report, the owners took the plunge and, wanting to be certain of a sale, actually set the starting price a little lower than our recommended amount. This certainly did the trick and with a steady stream of phone enquiries and very well attended viewing sessions, the property sold to a local buyer in the transparent and exciting atmosphere of the auction room for £380,000!
We are now taking lots for our next auction. To find out if your land or property is suitable or to book a free, no obligation auction appraisal, then please call Charles, Head of Auction on 01280 818903 or email charles.lovell@robinsonandhall.co.uk
With offices in Bedford and Buckingham, Robinson & Hall is a leading regional property consultancy established since 1882, and property auctioneering has been a notable specialism during this time. Head Auctioneer, David Jones, can be found on the rostrum every two months, offering residential, commercial and agricultural properties for local and national sellers.
After a ten year affiliation with Auction House (an association of professional regional auctioneers), Auction House Robinson & Hall is now relaunching as Robinson & Hall Auctions. David Jones comments “We thank Auction House for our time with them and we wish them well for the future. We will continue to offer a first class auction service to sellers across the region, but with a new website featuring improved usability for our buyers and with the freedom to innovate in this ever-changing world.”
Robinson & Hall Auctions pioneered the use of livestream auctions during the restrictions of lockdown, allowing buyers to bid from home while still watching a live auctioneer in an empty saleroom. Their livestream sales were a great success and provided a valuable service to their sellers through this difficult time.
Nevertheless, they were delighted to be among the first auctioneers to return to a live saleroom, in a move welcomed widely by sellers and buyers alike. Their Milton Keynes saleroom, just a few minutes from the M1, is ideally located for buyers from all over the country. Many are now enjoying the inimitable hustle and bustle of a live auction saleroom again, although the livestream facility remains available for all those who prefer the ease of modern technology.
David comments “Although we are re-branding, staff will all remain the same, as will our saleroom. Contact telephone numbers are unchanged, but we have brand new email addresses which are firstname.surname@robinsonandhall.co.uk.”
He continues “We look forward to working with all of our established contacts once again and welcoming new faces to our sales, under the Robinson & Hall Auctions banner. If you have any enquiries then please contact one of the team who will be very pleased to assist.”
Robinson & Hall Auctions is now taking lots for their next auction. To find out if your land or property is suitable or to book a free, no obligation auction appraisal, then please call 01234 362899 or email auctions@robinsonandhall.co.uk
One thing for certain is that if you want a quick sale, use auction.
Remarkably during 2020 and 2021 we managed to continue with our regular property auctions (albeit in a modified format) and achieved year on year growth. During most of that time we were prevented from hosting an ‘in-room’ sale, instead our Auctioneer, David Jones, offered lots via a ‘livestream’ platform whereby bidders and spectators could watch him taking successive bids from online, telephone or proxy bidders.
October 2021 saw us return to an ‘in room’ auction and the response was fantastic. Since then, our bi-monthly auctions have been extremely well attended and we hope to continue with all of our sales in 2023 taking place in our regular venue, the Delta Marriott Hotel in Milton Keynes, MK7 6HL which was formerly The Hilton, a venue we have used for 10 years now.
Despite the popularity of attending the auction in person, we have a significant number of bidders who either can’t attend or prefer to bid remotely so we have retained the livestream option, providing bidders the best of both worlds.
2022 has been another busy year for the auction department and we are already 10% ahead of the same period in 2021. The October catalogue sees another excellent range of lots and our thanks to the many partner agents who have referred lots to us. Certainly, the market as a whole saw stock levels throughout 2021 at extremely low levels and it was unsurprising, we experienced far fewer referrals from our partner agents than we normally do.
Another exciting change is that after a ten year affiliation with Auction House (an association of professional regional auctioneers), we are now relaunching as Robinson & Hall Auctions. We thank Auction House for our time with them and we wish them well for the future. We will continue to offer a first class auction service to sellers across the region, but with a new website featuring improved usability for our buyers and with the freedom to innovate in this ever-changing world.
With stock numbers generally improving we are only too pleased to offer those lots which are perhaps not so straight forward. Every year we have memorable lots, those which stick out because the sale price in the room far exceeded expectations. Last year who could forget Mad Dog Paddock, the name was enough but when it was offered with a guide of £125,000 none of us expected bidding to reach £450,000! This year we saw an ex local authority house in Northolt, West London, where the condition had been destroyed after years of being used as a cannabis farm The sellers knew the £150,000 guide would make it run but none of us expected it to achieve £470,000! Likewise in August, the overgrown tennis court we offered at £20,000 left many amazed when the gavel went down at £165,000!
The forecast for next year isn’t easy to call. The economy, inflation, the war in Ukraine, energy bills, all cause an effect which will be greater or lesser to different people. The general feeling though is that life for the majority will be tougher. People will have less disposable income and that, as far as the residential market is concerned will impact on borrowers, making it harder to meet lenders affordability criteria. If we see sales aborted due to lenders imposing unfair restrictions on buyers, more sellers may look to the simplicity of an auction sale. Likewise, those calling the top of the market are likely to seek the speed and certainty that only auction can offer.
We are now taking lots for our next auction.
New starters
Carly Bayford joins the Auction department as Auction Adminstrator, as matenity cover for Grace Hollingworth. She supports the team with all administrative tasks and is responsible for social media.
David Howard joins the Auction department as Leads Generation Manager and is actively involved in generating new instructions from Partner Agents.
If you would like to find out if your land or property is suitable for auction, please call Charles Lovell.
The arrival of a new style of auction to the market has prompted us to reaffirm our commitment to the traditional method of sale.
Charles Lovell, Head of Auction House Robinson & Hall, says that an increasing number of auction buyers and sellers have approached the company, seeking reassurance that future sales will continue to exchange on the fall of the hammer rather than several weeks later.
He explains: “For most people, the appeal of buying and selling at auction is that it is a quick, simple and convenient process. Sales are carried out on an unconditional basis with contracts exchanging as the gavel falls and completion following some 14-28 days later, or by agreement between the buyer and the seller. It’s the way we have always done it and certainly the way we intend to carry on doing it in the future.
“But a Modern Method of Auction (MMoA) has since become available, whereby the sale is conditional with the buyer merely securing a period of exclusivity before contracts are exchanged, which often takes more than a month with completion finally taking place after that.
“As well as the unreasonably high charges made to the buyer, the conditional method is slower, more cumbersome and much more prone to the problems that befall private treaty sales, indeed, the sort of difficulties many sellers deliberately choose auction to avoid!”
2022 has been another busy year for the auction department and we are already 10% ahead of the same period in 2021. We have sold 88% of lots offered this year to date.
Charles added: “The fact is unconditional auctions are in our DNA: it’s where we’ve always put our focus and it’s where we always will. Without doubt, they provide the best way of selling auction property in terms of both speed and security of sale.
“So, whether the sales are in-room, livestream or online, our commitment to unconditional auctions remains undiminished and we can confidently predict that in 2022 we will exceed last year’s sales figures.
“Therefore, our buyers, sellers and partner agents, old and new, can rest assured that our focus will remain unchanged, as we continue to offer a fair, transparent and cost-effective service, whilst always working on behalf of our clients to achieve the best possible price for each and every property.”
We are now taking lots for our next auction. To find out how Auction House Robinson & Hall can help you or to book a no obligation auction appraisal, please call 01234 362899 or email robinsonandhall@auctionhouse.co.uk
Charles Lovell, Head of Auction at Auction House Robinson & Hall, says: “The auction industry could end up benefiting from the forthcoming downturn in the property market because it provides the quickest and simplest solution to selling unwanted property.”
“Earlier this month the Bank of England announced a rise in interest rates of half a percent, the biggest increase in the cost of borrowing for 27 years. Many experts are predicting that inflation could hit 15% by the middle of next year. The UK is predicted to fall into recession later this year, with the longest downturn since 2008 expected and gross domestic product falling by as much as 2.1%. Together, this will inevitably have a significant impact on the mortgage market and the housing market in general.”
“But it also means that some buy-to-let landlords and investors will decide to divest themselves of part or all of their portfolio and the most obvious route for them to do so is by auction. In fact, it might mean an increase in the number of sales and amount of money raised on behalf of our clients.”
“If inflation reaches 15% as predicted, the only way to get it down is to increase interest rates. Last week’s rate rise of half a percent is going to pale into insignificance in the next 16 months, as rates will inevitably continue to climb.”
“We are starting to see more caution in the market, although attractively priced lots are still achieving strong sale prices. We are also hearing reports within the private treaty market of valuations being downgraded by lenders and deals taking much longer to complete.”
“That is not the case at auction, where both buyers and sellers appreciate the speed and certainty of the process, and the deal is done on the fall of the hammer. This is evidenced by our success rate of 88% year to date.”
“This is not to suggest that there will not be challenges ahead for the auction sector but we do have a degree of resilience not evident elsewhere. So, despite the softening of the market, we are predicting that the supply of lots to our auction and high rate of success of sale will continue in these uncertain times.
We are now taking lots for our next auction. To find out how Auction House Robinson & Hall can help you or to book a no obligation auction appraisal, please call 01234 362899 or email robinsonandhall@auctionhouse.co.uk
