Best price bar none

A former restaurant and bar with three flats on the upper floors in Plymouth smashed its freehold guide price when it sold for £251,000 at auction.

The character premises at 42-44 Bretonside was among the West Country lots listed for sale by the regional land and property auctioneers Clive Emson Auctioneers.

Fierce bidding pushed the final figure up well beyond its guide of £185,000 to £215,000.

Two of the three flats in the three-storey property are currently let at a total of £11,160 per annum.

Auctioneer Graham Barton said: “A bidding war broke out for this investment property.

“The new owner may wish to follow a commercial scheme of their own on the ground floor subject to the necessary planning consents or make it available for rent.

“There is also potential to convert the rear of the ground floor into a fourth independent flat while still leaving a sizeable commercial element, subject to the necessary consents.”

Graham added: “We had our busiest sales room for three years as our strong start to 2016 continued.”

Clive Emson Auctioneers, an independent company, holds eight rounds of auctions at five locations from Essex to Cornwall on consecutive days every six weeks, this time with a total of 170 lots.

Starting at 11am, the third of Clive Emson’s eight regional West Country auctions in 2016 takes place at the St Mellion International Resort, St Mellion, Cornwall, on Friday May 6. Entries close on April 4.

Visit http://www.cliveemson.co.uk/ for more details.