Allsop, the largest auction house in the UK, is going back to the room for the first time since pandemic lockdowns forced it to go online only, evidence of returning confidence in a market that is a key barometer for real estate as a whole.
Allsop runs the largest property auction departments in Europe and is the UK’s number one auction house by transactions. It offers lots covering residential, vacant and investment properties, ground rents, land and development opportunities and secondary commercial lots. A minimum of six commercial and seven residential sales are held every year.
The company, like the majority of its peers, has run online only auctions since then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a national lockdown in response to the COVID pandemic in March 2020. At that stage Allsop had to swiftly move 450 properties on to an online bidding platform 10 days before in-the-room auctions were due to begin.
Allsop has decided it will hold ballroom residential auctions again but the commercial auctions remain online only. Few of its peers have returned to venues so far.
The first event will be held on 30 March at the Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge and it has earmarked dates in May and June for auctions.
Richard Adamson, a partner in the residential auction team, said the company typically holds eight auctions a year for residential and will review the three in-the-room auctions before deciding on more. "We do anticipate it being a great success however," Adamson said.
Adamson said: "We took a lot of time talking to buyers and sellers to see what they wanted at the back end of last year and it was clear many people wanted a return to the room. It felt as if January and February being cold and dark might not be the best time to do it and that spring and the summer when people were out travelling more made more logical sense. Obviously we still see online as a big part of the business, and online only has been incredibly successful over the past three years. For over 10 years in-room auctions have always also included bids by telephone, via the internet and by proxy post. Back in the room takes us back to a multichannel approach."
Adamson says the move will critically give people a better sense of how the market feels and is performing. "In the residential sector it is hard to price things, and to be in the room and see how buyers are behaving is vital. There is some theatre too of course and some people really enjoy that and have missed it."
Allsop has released its February residential auction catalogue offering 321 lots, 23 of which are guided at £1 million or above. The latest residential catalogue, Allsop’s largest since May 2019, features a mix of investment and development opportunities across the UK, including houses and flats, ground rent investments, vacant sites and garages.
Adamson says there is strong evidence the market is improving after the Liz Truss government's mini Budget in September of 2022 had depressed the market.
Last year, Allsop raised £372 million from over 1,000 sales with an overall success rate of 80%, despite the challenging economic environment characterised by rising interest rates and inflation against the backdrop of a countrywide cost of living crisis.
It has now released its February residential auction catalogue offering 321 lots, 23 of which are guided at £1 million or above. It is Allsop’s largest since May 2019, and features a mix of investment and development opportunities across the UK, including houses and flats, ground rent investments, vacant sites and garages.
Adamson says this underlines improving confidence.
"Auctions are a barometer of where the market is. We measure how many lots are in the catalogue first and then how many buyers. The mini Budget created a lot of chaos and confidence was knocked but in December it settled. Next we will be able to compare how many people are registering and coupled with the result will get a sense of whether our feeling that there is less doom and gloom is true."