Property Auctions in London: An Insiders Guide

Property Auctions in London: An Insider’s Guide

Welcome to our insider’s guide on Property Auctions in London! This comprehensive resource is designed to give you the lowdown on London property auctions, helping you navigate the exciting world of house auctions in London. Whether you’re a seasoned investor or a first-time buyer, we’ve got you covered with tips, tricks, and insights from the Hammered team.

 
 

Auction House London

 

📞+44 (0) 20 7625 9007

 

Founded in 2011, Auction House London is the independent flagship franchisee of the Auction House brand. The auctioneer is engaging and effective in (as they say) ‘extracting every last bid’. They provide a fresh and energetic approach to the auction scene.

 
 

Area:

National Residential & Commercial (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers Tip:

Make sure that you’re dealing with the right person. At Auction House London the teams are split into corporate, traders, and owner occupiers. So speaking to the right person is really important.

 

Buyers Tip:

With Auction House London make sure that you register your interest in the property. They are probably the most communicative auctioneer in London and maybe even in the country. They will notify you of the viewings, when the legal pack is up, they will send you reminders and they’ll chase you down. Exactly what you need as a buyer.

 
 
 
 
 

Allsop Residential

 

📞 +44 (0) 20 7494 3686

 

Combined with their counterpart Allsops Commercial, they have been one of the biggest and one of the longest standing real estate auctioneers in the UK. With more than 100 years of experience Allsops remains a powerhouse and a cornerstone of the UK real estate market.

 

Area:

National Residential (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers Tip:

Selling through Allsop Residential is a good idea if you have the property priced correctly, and if there is an opportunity to add some value. The Allsops residential catalogue along with the commercial catalogue are some of the most impressive in the industry, so if you’ve got the right kind of stock, putting it in their room is always going to do well. If it isn’t correctly priced or the right kind of stock, you may encounter difficulties.

 

Buyers Tip:

Buying a property at Allsops is actually really very easy. They take around £10,000 pounds on account for you to register to bid, which is fine. The trick there is making sure that you’ve got everything lined up – they’re very militant when it comes to the AML but they’re very easy to buy from, once you are familiar with their process.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Allsops Commercial

 

📞 +44 (0)20 7543 6780

 

Combined with their counterparts in Allsops Residential, they have been one of the biggest and one of the longest standing real estate auctioneers in the UK. With more than 100 years of experience Allsops remains a powerhouse and a cornerstone of the UK real estate market.

 

Sellers Tip:

I think if you have the right commercial assets and that may be a commercial mix, or assets on secondary or tertiary parades, then Allsops is a great place to offer your property to sell..

 

Buyers Tip:

Buying at Allsops Commercial is really easy. They share the same platform with Allsops Residential so it’s a really easy buying process.

 
 
 
 

Acuitus

 

📞 +44 (0) 7034 4850

 

With more than 30 years of experience in the sale of commercial assets for clients across the UK. The knowledge and experience of Acuitus really sets them apart from others in the field. We have great respect for the quality of their particulars and how they present the assets for sale.

 

Area:

National Commercial (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers tip:

To be successful with Acuitus you need to be selling the right stock. It needs to be like a high street location. A good covenant (tenant) so maybe like a Tesco or Sainsbury’s or the like. I think shopping centres do really well with them. They have a really good track record for properties in Scotland (whereas most London auctioneers do not) So if you are selling a commercial property in Scotland and it’s commercial, Acuitas is a good place to be.

 

Buyers tip:

For a commercial agent, they are really very proactive. I think if you have questions pre auction, they will do their best to make sure that those are answered in time. So very responsive. They’re a quality provider to purchase from.

 
 
 
 
 

Savills

 

📞 +44(0)20 7824 9091

 

With little over a hundred years of combined experience and spanning ten of thousands of sold properties, Savills (like Allsops and Barnard Marcus on this list) are backed by a large and international estate agency brand. This gives Savills a somewhat corporate feel, whilst embracing some of the newer technologies and recently employing a younger group of professionals to freshen up their offering to fit the modern day investor.

 

Area:

National Residential & Commercial (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers tip:

Savills is a good option to go with because they have really good connectivity throughout the country due to them being part of the Savills international brand. The team is quite large and each has their own expertise. So no matter what the asset is, they’ll make sure the right person is dealing with it.

 

Buyers tip:

Like Auction House London, Savills are also a hybrid auction. That means that the auctioneer is shouting the numbers at you and introducing the lot and banging the hammer down as opposed to the ‘eBay’ style. So it’s actually really very engaging to be buying through Savills, especially if you haven’t bought through auction before.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Network Auctions

 

📞 020 7871 0420

 

A highly experienced team of auctioneers and auctioneer trainers, Network Auctions are a highly capable team that create lasting and fruitful relationships with partners nationwide to ensure that a property sold in their auction is sold with both local and national knowledge and experience.

 

Area:

National Residential & Commercial (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers Tip:

Network Auctions is a super small team and I think that works in their favour. The management team are auctioneer trainers; they train auctioneers how to be effective at what they do, so they’re super knowledgeable. It’s in the name, they really apply their network to making sure that they get the best price of the asset. So they have relationships with agents and other people throughout the country that makes sure that they can deliver the sale of an asset anywhere in the country.

 

Buyers Tip:

Network is quite simple. They have their own system and they don’t have too many barriers to entry. So it’s very easy to register and very easy to get on to bid.

 
 
 
 
 

McHugh & Co

 

📞 +44 (0) 20 7485 0112

 

McHugh has recently re-invented itself especially in relation to the massive industry changing challenges associated with the Covid-19 Pandemic. Historically, McHugh held a strong presence in North and North West London. Holding selling contracts with Local Authorities and other institutions. Recently the scale and direction of the company has expanded and changed drastically.

 

Area:

National Residential & Land (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers tip:

In this current climate, selling at McHugh & Co is a good idea if you can guide them to reserve property in a very competitive way. The majority of their catalogue is hyper aggressively priced assets. So if you’re not the aggressive type with your pricing, you may struggle in their catalogue but if you can follow their advice and their sales marketing strategy you should do well.

 

Buyers tip:

Buying with McHugh is quite easy and the registration process is simple. Always make sure you read the special conditions because a lot of the properties that are sold at tMc Hugh are traders or are traded stock. So you may find a couple of extra fees there that you may not find with many of the other auctioneers in London.

 
 
 
 
 
 

BidX1

 

📞 +357 22 000 380

 

An Irish born and bred company from 2011, BidX1, a tech platform had partnered with Allsops Ireland to deliver an auction solution utilising their proprietary technology. Later they had brought out Allsops to become independent, and then when breaking into the UK marketplace, they acquired Andrews & Robertson to retain a set of knowledgeable and experienced team of auction experts.

Far more recently BidX1 have partnered with the Foxtons Estate Agency brand to add to their online traditional offering, with a conditional sale approach.

 

Area:

National Commercial & Residential (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers tip:

BidX1 is technology-led. They built their own auctioneering tech platform. In that respect it’s built and designed specifically for this purpose, whereas other auctioneers are normally using or cannibalising another service or provider. That can mean it’s slightly better marketing. It’s normally smaller sized assets, so make sure you’re putting it in the correct auction.

 

Buyers tip:

It’s super easy their platform and your ability to bid is really very impressive, however registering to access the legal pack can be a bit of a palava. So, again, a lot of the stuff that they’re selling is either the Foxtons estate agency so it’s likely to be assets at a slightly closer to market value rather than having a discount or it’s going to be corporate sale stock.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Barnett Ross

 

📞 020 8492 9449 / 020 8492 7373

 

Holding their first auction in 2002 and until very recently holding the record for the highest hammer price of a property sold at auction (65 Flats in Finchley N12 for £20,425,000) in 2018 Barnett Ross have an excellent reputation.

 

We have looked to buy several properties from their auction over the years and always have their catalogue on our top 5 to research when it is released.

 

Area:

National Commercial & Mixed-Use (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers tip:

Barnett Ross are good for selling in the South East, particularly South East London and Kent borders, and especially for commercial and mixed use property. So if that’s the kind of asset that you have on a secondary or tertiary parade, then it’s a good choice.

 

Buyers tip:

They are highly engaged with buyers so if you have questions or you’re looking for some advice they’re very communicative and come back to you in a good time.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Barney Estates

 

📞 0208 432 7330 / 0800 0287 885

 

Area:

National Residential & Land (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers tip:

The majority of the stock they sell seems to be land, both with and without development potential. So that’s the kind of asset that you have, you may wish to consider Barney Estates.

 

Buyers tip:

Pay attention to the legal pack, especially the special conditions. When buying land, there can be overages there can be so many different types of things that you need to look out for. Most of that will be in the legal pack. So as a buyer, just make sure you’re reading through the legal pack in a diligent way.

 
 
 
 
 

Philip Arnold Auctions

 

📞 020 8799 3880

 

Area:

Residential & Commercial (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers tip:

A good place to sell if your asset is in the West London to Middlesex general area. Philip is personable and a very good auctioneer. He’s an ‘auctioneer’s auctioneer’, so you can trust that your property is in good hands.

 

Buyers tip:

​​Buying from Philip is quite easy and he’s responsive. You can normally trust that what you’re looking at is what you’ll be getting.

 
 
 
 
 

Strettons

 

📞 020 7637 1801

 

Area:

National Residential & Commercial (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers tip:

Strettons is a quality auctioneer. They are based in East London and they have a good mix of different kinds of residential and commercial stock. They have a couple of corporate sellers that they’ve been working with for a long time and have an in-house receivership, like Allsops. So if you have that style of property, you have a chance of doing well in their catalogue.

 

Buyers tip:

Buying from Strettons is a simple process. We’ve bought them in the past, and it was really very simple. They do everything in the right way so they’ll make sure that you’ve got your ideas and your deposit setup

 
 
 

Harman Healy

 

📞 020 8649 7255

 

Area:

National Residential & Land (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers Tip:

The majority of the properties that they sell like teas from corporate clients and non bank repossessions. So if your property looks like it’s in a slightly reduced position or is like based in like south west London, which I think is where they are based, and that’s a great option for you.

 

Buyers Tip:

The majority Harman Healy’s stock come from their corporate clients, and particularly bank repossessions. The most important thing to remember with that kind of property sale is that the completion time is anywhere between 10 to 14 days. If you’re a buyer, you need to make sure that you’re in a strong cash position because you won’t have cleantech days or six days in order to complete it’s a very tight timeline.

 
 
 
 

Town & Country (London)

📞 0800 334 5090

 

Area:

National Residential & Land (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers tip:

Town and Country they are a franchise model and they’re rather new. They seem to be selling quite a bit of land and some residential properties on the outskirts of London so if your property is lower capital value i.e. anything below £200k and is primarily arable land, they seem to have some good results.

 

Buyers tip:

If you’re looking for low value properties in the fringes of London, they may be worth looking at.

 
 
 
 
 

London City Auctions

 

📞 +44 (0) 2070 789755

 

Area:

National Residential & Land (London, Greater London & Home Counties)

 

Sellers Tip:

London City Auctions come across as glitzy and glamorous. Although they’re a London auctioneer, the majority of the properties they sell are in the Northeast of England. So if you have something in the Northeast of England, they may be worthwhile reaching out to.

 

Buyers Tip:

Because they’re new, be a little bit patient with them and just make sure that you have everything that you need in the legal pack and all of your questions answered prior to bidding. And as always, just make sure you’re double checking the special conditions of sale just to make sure there’s nothing silly hidden in there.

And there you have it – our insider’s guide to property auctions in London. By now, you should have a solid understanding of the various auction houses, their specialities, and tips for both buyers and sellers. With this knowledge in hand, you’re ready to dive into the world of London property auctions and discover the perfect investment or dream home. Remember to do your research, ask questions, and stay engaged throughout the process.

 
 
 
 
 

Psst! 🤫 We’ve got a cosy little corner on our website where we chat all about selling property at auction in the UK. From the ups and downs to those handy insider tips, it’s all in our Ultimate Guide to Selling a House at Auction. Why not pop over, grab a cuppa, and dive into the world of auctions with us?

 

Happy learning!