An island off the west coast of Scotland was one of the more unusual lots to go under the hammer at Savills’ April auction, which raised more than £55m from the sale of 163 lots.
The 90‑acre private island in the Inner Hebrides generated strong interest and sold for £436,000, more than £100,000 above its guide price.
The biggest lot sold at the two-day auction was a 162,000 sq ft freehold multi-let industrial estate let to a diverse mix of occupiers, including S3 Padel and DF Group, which sold for £4.7m.
A freehold retail parade in Whitley Bay, comprising 10 shops with self‑contained upper parts, which currently produces rental income of £115,100 per annum, also attracted strong interest and sold for £1.03m.
On the residential front, a freehold mid-terrace property in Clapham, South West London, arranged as two self‑contained flats of three and four bedrooms, sold for £1.11m, and a one‑bedroom lower ground floor flat in need of modernisation in Holland Park, sold for a hammer price of £685,000.
Jermery Lamb, a director at Savills auctions, said: “Overall, this was a more challenging sale, with a noticeable degree of caution from bidders, particularly for residential lots outside of London. The combination of more subdued economic growth and increasing borrowing costs has been weighing on confidence and global geopolitical tensions have only added to that uncertainty. However, auctions continue to play an increasingly important role in the market, with more sellers drawn to this route by the transparency and certainty the auction process provides.”
Nicholson Boyd, head of Savills commercial auctions, added: “While pricing sensitivity remains evident across the commercial market, buyers are still keen to transact, albeit with a more selective approach. Encouragingly, we are beginning to see a gradual improvement in appetite for commercial assets, as investors take a longer‑term view on income and value. This was underlined by the successful sale of portfolio lots, demonstrating that well‑priced opportunities underpinned by strong fundamentals continue to attract competitive interest.”
