Redruth property and Fowey’s Old Ferry Inn sold at auction

A five-storey building in the middle of Redruth, a 500-year-old inn on the Fowey Estuary and a scattering of small land parcels worth as little as a tenner all changed hands as Clive Emson Auctioneers wrapped up its July sale. The online auction, covering 170 lots across England, closed on 23 July, and Cornwall supplied some of the day’s more eye-catching results.

Redruth mixed-use property finds a buyer

The Redruth lot, a detached property at 4, 5 and 6 Penryn Street and 1 Station Hill, carried a freehold guide price of £75,000 plus. It did not sell during the auction itself. Instead, an interested party made an offer afterwards, which the vendor accepted.

Arranged over five floors, the building has two vacant commercial units on the ground floor and a maisonette above, let at £9,300 a year. There is a courtyard garden, and an adjoining enclosed parcel of land that once held planning permission for 14 flats, since lapsed.

Senior Auction Appraiser Katie Semmens said: “Occasionally offers are made for unsold lots post auction, as in this case.

“The new owner has acquired a mixed commercial/residential property with an adjoining parcel of land with a history of lapsed planning.

“It offers great potential for a variety of future development schemes, subject to all necessary consents being available.”

Illogan bungalow beats its guide by £56,000

Over in Illogan, a link-detached bungalow named Shorelands, in Lower Broad Lane, went well beyond expectations. Listed at £160,000 plus, it sold for £216,000 when the gavel fell. The property has two or three bedrooms, a driveway, a garage and gardens, and was auctioned in arrangement with MAP Estate Agents.

The same agency handled Flat 33 at Chy Kensa in Jubilee Drive, Redruth. The modern two-bedroom second-floor apartment, which comes with parking, sold for £87,000 against a freehold guide of £65,000 plus. It was sold with the remainder of a 125-year lease running from 1 July 2012.

Old Ferry Inn at Bodinnick sold before the gavel

The most storied Cornish lot was The Old Ferry Inn at Bodinnick, a historic inn with nine letting rooms looking out over the Fowey Estuary. It had a freehold guide of £475,000 plus, but sold before the auction opened when an interested party made a bid the vendor accepted.

The inn dates to the 1500s and sits close to the car ferry that links Bodinnick and Fowey.

Auction Appraiser James Lofthouse said: “As we expected, there proved to be keen interest in this property on the popular and picturesque Fowey Estuary.

“One interested party made an offer prior to the auction, which was then accepted. Occasionally properties are sold in this way after the new owners see them available for auction and are keen to make an acquisition beforehand.

“In this case, the new owner has gained a substantial property with a bar, restaurant, nine en-suite letting rooms and owners’ accommodation on a site measuring a fifth of an acre.

“They may wish to follow continued use of the property in the hospitality trade or may see the potential for some other type of scheme subject to all of the necessary consents.”

A farmhouse, a building plot and land for a tenner

There was strong competition for New Lydcott Farm in Widegates, four miles north of Looe. Guided at £100,000 plus, it climbed to £257,000 after 90 separate bids. The three-bedroom detached farmhouse has off-road parking to the front and side, a rear garden and three outbuildings on a site of about 0.05 hectares (0.12 acres).

Land in Pelynt with planning permission for a detached house sold for £45,000. The parcel, measuring 0.02 hectares (0.05 acres), lies on the north side of Higher Grange Cottage in Summer Lane.

At the smaller end, freehold land in Sycamore Road, Latchbrook, Saltash sold for £500, exactly on its guide. Measuring around 0.02 hectares (0.06 acres), it was auctioned on the instructions of Cornwall Council. Two more freehold parcels in the Launceston area, also placed by the council with a nil reserve, went for £10. One was at Wilsey View and the other opposite Kilarney at Tresmeer.

What comes next

Clive Emson Auctioneers’ next online auction, the sixth of eight this year, concludes from 11am on 24 September, with bidding live from 48 hours beforehand. Lot entries close on 1 September and the catalogue goes online from 4 September. Full details are on the Clive Emson Auctioneers website.