Office conversions help drive auction to highs not seen since banking crisis

Leading auction house Allsop says its most recent auction raised £71m, the highest for a September event since the financial crisis hit in 2008. The record breaking event was helped – it says – by enthusiasm among bidders for offices with permitted development rights (PDR) for conversion to residential use. “The impact of the recent extension of PDR to the light industrial sector will be interesting,” Gary Murphy, Partner and Auctioneer at Allsop (pictured, right). “We expect to be offering an even broader choice to developers at forthcoming sales. Watch this space.” This month’s event, which took place on 14th September at The Cumberland Hotel in London’s Mayfair, featured 240 lots 13 of which were sold after the auction, 25 sold prior and 40 withdrawn. The auction, which ranged from a £3.2m investment property in Brighton to a £3,000 vacant freehold site in Stafford, raised £12m more than Allsopp’s September event last year. The £3.2 million investment property was an office building (pictured, left) offered with PDR conversion to 17 flats, which had a guide price of £2.5m. But Allsopp says the highlight of the day was a house offered by Devon & Cornwall Housing Association with a guide price…