A first - online auction to be used to sell new homes

Auction house Allsop is launching the country’s first ever online-only auction for new build homes - and claims it's a first.

The experiment is starting with Phase 2 of the West Drayton Waterside scheme on the western edge of London. Bidding will open at 10am on Wednesday June 10 with bids starting to close from 10.05am on Thursday June 11.

The auction platform will be engineered so that potential buyers can log on to witness the live market place setting pricing and then rival bids. “Inciting healthy investor competition and putting products on a worldwide stage, this method is a natural evolution for the new build property sector” says the company press release on the subject.

Allsop’s residential auction partner Gary Murphy, is already describing this as “a superior route of sale for new properties” which “will co-exist harmoniously alongside our traditional ballroom auctions.”

An online auction also appeals to international buyers - increasingly a first port of call for new-build developers. 

“Seeing a 100% increase in internet bidding year on year at our live sale rooms, we have developed a concept that we believe addresses a proven demand for an online marketplace and extracts absolute best value for both developers and our customers” says Murphy. 

West Drayton Waterside is a canal-side development from Clearview Homes on the western fringe of the under-construction Crossrail high speed west-east London service. 

The properties are within a five minute walk of West Drayton rail station where Crossrail services will begin from 2019 providing high speed access across London to locations including Paddington, the West End, Liverpool Street, Canary Wharf and Heathrow. 

Online sales are legally binding at the fall of the gavel and solicitor details, bidder identities and bidder security payments are gathered prior to auction at the registration stage. 

Minimum bidding increments and the reserve price will be pre-set and regulated by the auctioneer and contracts will be signed on investors’ behalves by Allsop representatives. All participants must complete registration in advance of bidding and should allow ample time for verification of their ID by their UK solicitors before the auction.

This move in London follows a successful online-only auction for re-sale property in the Allsop Irish office earlier this year which received over 200 registered bidders and secured over €6.85million in property sales.