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Sheffield property firm defies Brexit worries reporting ‘strongest ever run of sales’

Revealing sales of nearly £4m from its first ‘post-Brexit’ auction, Sheffield-based property firm Mark Jenkinson and Son has reported its ‘strongest ever run of sales’ in a fruitful July period.

This month, the firm’s auctionaw 42 lots go under the hammer, with 36 sold generating a handsome £3.9m.

The firm’s sixth auction of the year means, in total, 169 lots have sold for £16.45 to date, an overall success rate of 90%, outperforming the national industry average of 73%.

Adrian Little, Head of the Auction Department at Mark Jenkinson and Son, said: “In the wake of Brexit, we went into the auction with a degree of apprehension.

“The success rate in the industry is currently 73.7%, according to Essential Information Group (EIG), and the previous five auctions before the EU referendum had recorded 93% - giving us our strongest ever run of sales.

“But the July auction was very much business as usual. It was very positive with some outstanding individual results and fierce competition, and even half the unsold lots are already under offer, too.

“The Old Brewery Yard at Worksop had a guide price of £150,000 but went for £372,000 - more than double. It needs investment but the commercial units produce £34,515 a year, and more than 60 legal packs were downloaded prior to the auction so there was definitely keen interest before the sale because of the potential for rental growth.

“When the market has tightened in the past, we have tended to find people erring towards bricks and mortar. Post Brexit interest rates are incredibly low and alternative forms of investment are not performing as well so the sale of this lot is a very good example of people choosing income producing properties in times of low yields elsewhere.”

Adrian added: “Regardless of the EU referendum result, Sheffield’s two universities are not going anywhere and there is still very clearly an appetite for shared student housing as demonstrated by the sale of a stone-built semi-detached house on Northumberland Road in Broomhill. A long-established student property it is already let for the 2016/2017 academic year and produces £19,500 rental a year.

“Despite a guide price of £295,000 it sold for nearly £100,000 more at £394,000 which shows the strong demand for income producing properties and reaffirms our view that, in terms of accommodation, Sheffield is continuing on course to become the world’s biggest student village.”

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