Strettons’ sale pushes final total to £62m

Strettons’ final sale of 2017 has pushed its total raised for the year to £62m. It sold £9.25m of stock in its December auction, 75% of the catalogue. The highest price of the catalogue was just in excess of £1m for a block of three flats in Hackney, E8, which was sold prior. On the day, the highest price was £690,000 for the ground rent on a 5,000 sq ft grade II listed former bank in Shoreditch, E1. Let to NatWest for the remaining 27 years of a 1,000-year lease, the sale price showed a 0.04% gross yield on the current ground rent of £250 pa. It was sold to Brockton Capital, which is developing the adjacent site. A grade II listed former vicarage in Edenbridge, Kent, with potential for office or residential use, fell under the hammer at £504,500. Two flats in Clapton, E5, sold on behalf of Newlon Housing Trust for £832,000 off a guide of £725,000-£750,000. A house in Harrow, HA0, sold on behalf of receivers for £566,000 against a guide of £500,000-£525,000. In Southend-on-Sea, Essex, a convenience store with residential above, let at £15,600 pa, sold for £311,000, equivalent to a 5% initial gross return. And a takeaway shop and flat in Walthamstow, E17, let at £15,000 pa, fetched £325,000 – a 4.6% yield. A selection of ground rents sold for between £13,500 and £430,000, with many selling well above guide.   Strettons director Philip Waterfield said: “Ground rents are proving very popular in the current market and we are anticipating a good selection of similar ground rent investments in our February sale.” “Overall, I am pleased to have ended the year strongly, raising £62m with a success rate of 78%, one of the highest success rates amongst the leading UK auction houses.” To send feedback, e-mail julia.cahill@egi.co.uk or tweet @egjuliac or @estatesgazette