Strong bidding for two interesting older Wiltshire properties saw them realise prices well beyond their guide prices.

The first, Trinity Church at Market Lavington, with planning permission for conversion to a spacious three or four bedroom home, sold for £245,000, well above the top guide price of £150,000.

The other, 17, London Road, Marlborough, a listed terrace cottage in need of modernisation and renovation had a guide price of £80,000 to £120,000 but the hammer fell when bidding reached £146,000.

Carter Jonas auction manager Arthur Chambers said flexibility in arranging completion dates for some of the lots offered at the Francis Hotel, Bath, on July 21 had enabled potential purchasers lenders to  provide additional funding. In the current financial climate banks appear to be struggling to provide financial support within a tight time frame.

“It’s normal to stipulate completion 28 days after the sale for successful bidders but relaxing this demand eased the burden for some people allowing them to get involved in the sale and, ultimately, realising better prices for vendors,” he explained.

The church at Market Lavington was the first lot and set the tone for the sale. One of the nine lots sold prior to the event and negotiations are continuing with potential buyers of the only other lot that did not sell on the night, a pasture paddock containing a Site of Special Scientific Interest at Bathampton.
 
“At our previous Bath sale, in May, there was real interest in a former Methodist church in Melksham and I anticipated the same result with the church at Market Lavington,” commented auctioneer Kit Harding.

“The Marlborough cottage also made an ideal opening into the town’s property market, where opportunities are rare when it comes to older homes at lower prices. It is a very desirable house and is about to make a fine home for its new owners after 80 years out of the market.

“Both the church and the cottage show the real potential of properties that are out of the ordinary, either through what they are or the opportunities they represent for their next owners. We are keen to find more for our next sale in Bath on October 6, with entries invited before the close on August 25 August.”

Pasture land is very much in demand at the moment and three of the four lots offered at Bathampton, totalling more than 28 acres between them, drew strong local interest. Two, with frontage onto the Kennet and Avon Canal, sold for £146,000, in excess of their combined top guide price of £130,000. The other land in the village, across the valley, sold for £50,000, its top guide price.

A 1.06 acre paddock with road access at Marshfield, a prime location in some of Britain’s best riding country, sold before the auction and another of 14.13 acres at Baughurst, near Tadley, achieved £120,000, well in excess of the top guide of £80,000.

Two barns at Cromhall, South Gloucestershire, with planning permission for conversion to two stunning dwellings, sold for £250,000.