Two online auctions took place today with auction house, Barnard Marcus, in respect of two halves of the woodland at Thorley Lane East (“the Woods”). The two parcels were marketed as “West Plot A” and “East Plot B”, each comprising 1.6 acres and each at a guide price of £150,000. West Plot A was sold during the auction for £160,000, with East Plot B remaining unsold at the close of bidding, but with the seller still inviting and considering offers (including one submitted for £96,000). The auctioneer stated that they were liaising with the seller as to whether this would be acceptable, when taken in aggregate with the other sold plot. Potential bidders were reminded that the lots were located within the Green Belt and were subject to Tree Preservation Orders, but that they were surrounded by housing estates (with no mention of the Woods’ proximity to the Southern Country Park, nor to the wider open countryside around Thorley).
This comes after several previous attempts to sell the Woods in various configurations over the past month, including as 12 individual plots of 0.3 acre, each at a guide price of £40,000. Today’s bids would yield £256,000 for the seller, in contrast to the initial ambitious aggregate sale price, for the 12 plots, of close to half a million pounds.
The common theme is that all of these listings have been placed with out-of-town agents. As well as Barnard Marcus, Battersea based Barney Estates & Auctioneers have been actively marketing the Woods, in conjunction with Essex estate agents, Colubrid in Chelmsford and Michael’s in Braintree. One of the 0.3 acre plots supposedly sold with Barney Estates on 18 August for £35,000, only to find its way back into today’s 1.6 acre listing. The terms and conditions of the auction stated that the seller was also allowed to bid. When queried about this inconsistency, the agents commented that the seller had, within the special conditions of sale, an option to rescind any agreed sale, especially if they were not confident that the buyer would be able to complete, and that the seller was within its rights to “keep its options open”.
Barney Estates’ attempt to auction each half of the Woods last Thursday (8 September) for £150,000 per plot was unsuccessful, with bids failing to meet the reserve price. We were, however, informed that the seller had received several “subject to planning” offers, but that it wished to sell outright. Hence, the continued marketing campaign, with online auctions scheduled on a weekly basis in September care of the various agents.
Despite today’s successful auction sale, various lots at the Woods remain posted on the estate agents’ websites at the time of writing.
Notwithstanding the high-profile campaign by the Thorley Lane East Woods Action Group to flag the protected status of the Woods, it is clear that speculative bidding is taking place on the premise that they may have the potential for development. As previously reported, there has been a united front from local Councillors and the MP against any proposed change of use of the Woods: all have been vocal in stating that they can see no way in which building houses on the site would be in the public interest or further the aims of local planning policy.
Several offers have been made to the seller by the Council and by private individuals to purchase the Woods at their proper market value as a community asset and woodland amenity to preserve them as a much-valued green space. All have been rejected by the seller.
The Thorley Lane East Woods Action Group is watching the situation closely and hopes to release further details shortly of the identity of any supposed purchaser. A bona fide arm’s length transaction will result in applications being made to HM Land Registry on the Woods’ registered title, which will reveal the identity of applicants and, ultimately, any changes in the registered proprietor. We are also still awaiting the results of our local authority and highways searches, which should further clarify some of the uncertainties about access to the public highway and the potential ransom strip encircling the Woods.
Further updates will be posted as and when information becomes available.