Homes in a new development in west London are to be sold online next month, in the first ever internet-only auction for newbuild property in the UK.
Auctioneer Allsop says the online sale of the homes in the West Drayton Waterside development will allow “investors the world over to watch the entire selling process evolve in front of their eyes with absolutely zero risk of gazumping or gazundering”.
Gary Murphy, residential auction partner at the firm, says the concept also appealed to developers who would usually market newbuild schemes to overseas investors in locations such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Middle East. “Traditionally they would travel round and offer one set of units to investors in one country and whoever bids first will buy them, then they will pack up their model and go to the next location and market another set of units. They are not really harnessing the competition between investors in Hong Kong and those in Abu Dhabi or anywhere else,” he says.
However, at a time when buyers in London are desperate for homes to buy, news that investors around the world could be set to get easy access to sales of even small developments is unlikely to be welcomed by all.
Henry Pryor, a buying agent and property commentator, says: “Allsop are not planning anything shifty, nor will their new web-based business become a tool for economic terrorism, but the idea of promoting a selling concept that will make it easier for foreign investors to buy UK property will alarm many and irritate a lot more.”
The first online auction will sell the second phase of the West Drayton development, a range of one- two- and three-bedroom flats with a reserve price starting at £249,000. Bidding will open at 10am on 10 June, and would-be buyers will have 24 hours to place their bids, with the sale of the first of the 36 lots closing at 10.05am on 11 June. Sales will close throughout the day, giving those who are unsuccessful in their initial offers a chance to join the bidding on later lots. The highest bidder will be locked into the purchase.
The canal-side development, which has been built by Clearview Homes, is in the London borough of Hillingdon, near Heathrow airport and the M4 motorway. A key selling point is its proximity to the new Crossrail high-speed service which from 2019 will take commuters to the West End of London in 23 minutes. The development of Crossrail is expected to push up prices in areas around the capital and has been used by developers to market other properties outside central London. According to Zoopla, the current average asking price of a one-bedroom property in the area is just under £187,000.
Allsop said the flats were “a perfect buy-to-let opportunity – prospects for significant capital and rental growth and high tenant demand are predicted”.
Murphy says the sales of the first phase of the development suggest there will be strong interest from investors. However, he says there is no reason why first-time buyers and home movers could not be involved in the auction, and that the properties were being advertised on Rightmove and in London’s Evening Standard newspaper. “It’s my hope that there will be a real mix of buyers,” he says.
The chief executive of Clearview Homes, Stephen Murphy, says the firm had not hesitated to sign up to sell the second phase of the development through the auction. “It is the perfect platform for our product which we believe will appeal to investors not just locally but nationally and even internationally. We know for sure that we will make sales on the day and achieve the best possible price.”
However, Pryor says: “I’m sure this is progress in the world of Lovejoy and auctioneering, but in the real world this is as welcome as a new way to traffic puppies to countries who include them on their lunchtime menu.”
