Bond Wolfe auction raises £1.9m for Birmingham City Council

Bond Wolfe’s second auction of the year raised £1.9m for Birmingham City Council as the cash-strapped council looks to fill a budget gap.

Six properties were sold for Birmingham City Council as part of its ongoing efforts to sell off assets from its £2.4bn investment property portfolio through a programme led by commissioners.

Before the fire sale of assets, the council held the largest land estate of any UK local authority, extending to 26,000 acres. It attracted on average £34m of revenue per year from more than 6,500 property assets, and over 300 of these have historic interest.

The live-streamed auction raised a total of £26m, up £4.5m from the February sale. 160 lots were offered, with 137 selling for a sold percentage of 86%.

Jerome Chambers in Bridge Street and the former Walsall Spiritualist Church in Caldmore Road raised £533,000 for Walsall Council. 

A parcel of land at 44-48 Showell Road was sold for £67,000 on behalf of the City of Wolverhampton Council.

Gurpreet Bassi, chief executive of Bond Wolfe, said: “Our results reflect the demand for property – solid, tangible investments – in the current climate.

“More and more people are coming to see the benefits of the auction – a quick result and completion in just a month. 

“It’s interesting to note that we saw a significant increase in website page views from our February auction, due to increased press coverage and from enhanced online presence on social media and search.”