There was strong investor demand for retail property as Acuitus raised £20.48m with an 82% success rate at its first auction of 2020.
Two properties let to Barclays Bank in Hendon, North-West London and Skipton, North Yorkshire sold for £705,000 and £1.75m respectively which reflected yields of 4.4% and 7.5%. A 1,063 sq ft shop in Pangbourne let to WH Smith until 2024 sold for £410,000 at a yield of 4.8% while the leasehold interest of 6 St George’s Street, Canterbury – let to jewellers, Warren James until 2024 – sold for £715,000 at a yield of 6.6%.
Acuitus auctioneer, Richard Auterac, commented: “We went to the auction without knowing whether the increasing confidence in the residential market that has been reported in the press would manifest itself in the commercial property investment market. The answer is a re-sounding ‘yes’ with the room displaying a positivity that we’ve not seen for quite a while.
“High Street investors are still selective but this auction demonstrated that they have confidence where the trading prospects are sound and there is a good story from the retailer’s perspective.Three leisure units at The Loom Retail Park in Leigh, Greater Manchester sold for £1.48m. Part let to Nando’s and currently producing annual income of £123,330 and with one vacant unit to let, the long leasehold interest sold at a yield of 7.8%.”
Other notable lots which were snapped up included a Texaco-branded petrol station at Whimple near Exeter which sold for £1.1m at a yield of 6.5%, and an office investment on Arlington Business Park in Stevenage which sold after strong bidding for £1.255m at a yield of 7.0% and a capital value of £203 per sq ft.
A freehold care home investment in Nottingham with a current annual income of £39,520 on a CPI-linked lease that runs until 2042 sold for £615,000 at a yield of 6.1%.
Richard Auterac commented: “The diversity of the lots that sold at today’s auction showed that buyers are receptive to opportunities across all sectors and locations including alternative investment sectors that offer a long-term income return such as care homes”.
The next Acuitus auction of 2020 will take place on 26th March at The Montcalm Hotel, 2 Wallenberg Place, London W1H 7TN.
