Selling at auction, or didn't sell at auction?
Still weighing it up? Auction fees, entry costs and a reserve you might not hit all come off before you see a penny, so it is worth having a figure to compare against. Already been through it and the lot didn't sell? You don't have to relist and pay a second time. Either way we buy directly, and most sales complete in 7 to 28 days, 7 at the fastest.
Still deciding, show me the real fee stack · My lot didn't sell, what now
Call us nowQuick answer: Selling at auction can work, but it isn't always the fastest or cheapest route. Auction fees and the wait for a sale date add up, and completion still takes several weeks after the hammer falls. A direct cash sale carries no auction fees and can complete in 7 to 28 days, and the offer is the figure that reaches your account on completion, so it is worth comparing the two before you commit.
How selling to us works instead
No lot fee, no reserve to hit, and no waiting for the next catalogue. Three steps, and you can stop at any of them.
Step 1
Tell us about the propertyPostcode first, then the details. If it's already been through auction, tell us what happened and what the reserve was.
Step 2
We make our best offerOne figure, our best on what you've told us, in writing the same day. We don't open low and creep up. It stays valid for 14 days.
Step 3
You pick the completion dateBetween 7 and 28 days, and 7 if you need it. We cover the legal costs and there are no fees to you at any point.
What the two routes actually involve
The open market route has seven places it can stall. Ours has two parties in it.
A chain sale
- Your buyer applies for a mortgage, which the lender can still withdraw
- The lender sends a surveyor, who can down-value or flag the condition
- Searches come back and can raise something nobody expected
- Enquiries go back and forth between four sets of solicitors
- Your buyer's own sale has to hold together
- So does their buyer's sale, and so on up the chain
- Everyone has to be ready to exchange on the same day
Selling to us
- No mortgage application, because we buy with our own funds
- No lender's surveyor, so condition can't be used to renegotiate
- No onward chain, because we aren't selling anything to buy yours
- Your solicitor still does the searches and the legal work properly
- You pick the completion date, and we work to it
That's why this route runs in weeks rather than months. The legal work still happens, the things that break sales don't.
The short answer
UK property auction sells your house on a fixed date, usually four to six weeks after you instruct, by binding the buyer to a deposit on the day and a completion deadline of 28 days (traditional) or 56 days (modern method of auction). It brings genuine certainty of exchange once the hammer falls, and it suits properties that struggle on the open market: refurbishments, non-traditional construction, short leases, knotweed, subsidence, tenanted buy-to-lets, and probate stock. The cost is a fee stack of 3% to 5% (entry fee, commission, legal pack, VAT) plus unsold-lot risk. EIG's Q1 2026 data shows monthly sale rates of 67.6%, 72.2% and 68.6%, so roughly one in three lots fails at the hammer. A direct cash buyer is the obvious alternative: same certainty, no fees, completion in 7 to 28 days on a date you choose.
Where are you in this?
Auction sellers arrive here at four different points, and the useful answer is different at each one. Find yourself below and jump to the part that applies to you. The rest of the page is still here when you want it.
You haven't instructed anyone yet
Nothing is signed, so nothing has cost you anything. The number that decides this is what lands in your account after the fee stack, not the guide price. Start with the real fee stack for sellers.
You're in the catalogue and having second thoughts
Your legal pack is paid for and a withdrawal fee applies inside 48 hours of sale day. It is still worth knowing your floor before the hammer, so read the fee stack and get a figure to hold it against.
Your lot passed unsold
Around one in three lots does. You do not have to relist and pay a second time. The options are set out in if your auction fails.
The hammer fell and the buyer hasn't completed
A traditional buyer who can't raise the balance forfeits the deposit, but you are back to square one with weeks gone. See what to do next, and tell us the date you were working to.
The real fee stack for sellers
Not sure where you stand?
Tell us about the property and we'll come back the same day with a written offer, valid for 14 days. No obligation, and no pressure either way.
Get my free cash offerThe headline pitch from auction houses is that selling is "free" or that fees only apply if the property sells. The truth is more textured. For a £150,000 South Yorkshire terrace, the typical 2026 fee stack looks like this:
- Entry fee: £200 to £500, sometimes waived, sometimes payable up front to cover catalogue inclusion and marketing.
- Auctioneer commission, 2% to 3% of the sale price plus VAT, payable on completion. On £150,000 at 2.5% that is £3,750 plus £750 VAT = £4,500.
- Legal pack preparation: your solicitor compiles the auction pack (title, searches, special conditions, TA6/BASPI, TA10, tenancy paperwork, etc.). Budget £300 to £1,200 plus VAT. Local authority searches alone are £100 to £250 depending on the council.
- Withdrawal fee: if you pull the property less than 48 hours before sale day, typically £1,000 plus VAT, plus the legal pack cost is already spent.
- Unsold lot / relisting fee, varies by auction house; some charge a relisting fee, others roll the property into the next catalogue at no extra charge.
- Capital Gains Tax, applies to second homes and buy-to-let disposals; for 2026/27 the residential rate is 18% / 24% depending on your income tax band and the annual exempt amount is £3,000. Seek independent tax advice.
On a £150,000 sale that hits the reserve, the seller usually walks away with £143,000 to £145,500 once entry, commission, legal pack and VAT are paid. If the lot passes and you relist, the legal pack and any entry fee are already spent. By contrast, a direct cash buyer charges no entry fee, no commission, no buyer's premium, and covers your conveyancing legal fees in most cases, the cash offer is the figure that lands in your account.
If your auction fails, what next
Around one in three UK auction lots passes unsold in the current market. The standard options are:
- Post-auction private treaty. Most auctioneers will sell the passed lot in the days after auction at or just below the reserve, with the buyer typically still bound by auction terms. This converts a meaningful share of unsold lots.
- Relist in the next catalogue. Free or low-cost at most auction houses, but you keep the public profile of a property that has already passed once, which dampens bidder confidence.
- Drop the reserve. A reserve cut signals seriousness but locks in a lower net.
- Switch route entirely. Estate agent (if condition allows) or direct cash buyer, the second is usually faster after an auction failure because the property is already documented and the seller is past the discovery phase.
Lot didn't sell? You don't have to relist.
Tell us what happened and what the reserve was. We'll come back the same day with a written offer, valid for 14 days, and most sales complete in 7 to 28 days on a date you choose.
Get my free cash offerAuction vs cash buyer, a like-for-like comparison
Both routes deliver certainty and speed compared with the open market. The differences cluster around timing, fees and flexibility.
- Speed. Auction: six to ten weeks (traditional) or eight to fourteen weeks (MMoA). Cash buyer: 7 to 28 days, on a date you choose.
- Certainty. Auction is certain after the hammer (traditional) or reservation (MMoA), but 30% to 35% of lots pass unsold per EIG 2026 data. A cash buyer is certain from offer acceptance: no chain, no mortgage offer, no survey-driven renegotiation.
- Price headroom. Auction can exceed the cash buyer's offer if competitive bidding pushes the lot above the reserve. It can also fall short. Compare what lands, not what is quoted: a hammer price is a gross figure with 3% to 5% of seller fees still to come off it, and under the modern method the buyer's reservation fee has already come out of what they could afford to bid. A cash offer is the figure that reaches your account on completion, though it can change if conveyancing turns up something material such as a title or structural problem.
- Fees. Auction: 2% to 3% commission + VAT, £200-£500 entry, £300-£1,200 legal pack + VAT, possible withdrawal/unsold fees. Cash buyer: no entry fee, no commission, no buyer's premium, and we can cover your legal fees if you use our panel solicitor.
- Privacy. Auction publishes a guide price on Rightmove, Zoopla and the auctioneer's site for weeks. A cash sale is private.
- Flexibility. Auction locks you into 28-day completion. A cash buyer will agree a longer completion to fit onward purchase, probate or tenant notice periods.
For South Yorkshire sellers whose priority is a known net figure on a known date, the direct cash route removes the fee stack and the unsold-lot risk. That isn't the same as saying it always pays more. Whether it beats auction depends on your property and on how many bidders turn up on the day. The honest test: if your property would mortgage at a high-street lender and you can afford to wait, an estate agent or a well-attended auction is likely to leave you with more.
Working to a deadline?
Tell us the date. Most sales complete in 7 to 28 days, and if we can't work to your timescale we'll say so straight away.
Talk to us todayHow a UK property auction works in 2026
Every UK residential auction follows the same basic shape. You sign an auctioneer's agreement, agree a guide price and a confidential reserve, prepare the legal pack with your solicitor, sit out a four-to-six-week marketing window while the catalogue goes out on Rightmove, Zoopla and the auctioneer's own site, and then wait for sale day. Bidding now happens online by default: even when an auction house calls itself a ballroom auction, most lots are bid by phone, proxy or web. The two big format choices, traditional (unconditional) and modern method (conditional), change what happens after the hammer falls, not before.
Traditional (unconditional) auction
The buyer pays a 10% deposit on the day and exchanges contracts in the room (or online) the moment the hammer falls. Completion follows within 28 days. There is no finance get-out clause, if the buyer can't raise the balance, they lose the deposit and any further losses fall on them. This is the format the auction industry was built on, and the one that gives sellers the strongest certainty once the gavel comes down. In practice it filters the buyer pool down to cash investors and small developers with bridging finance in place.
Modern method of auction (MMoA / conditional)
MMoA is an online, timed format running over a 14 to 30-day bidding window. When time runs out, the highest bidder pays a non-refundable reservation fee, typically 4.2% to 5% of the price plus VAT, often with a £6,000 minimum, to the auctioneer or partner estate agent. From that moment they have 28 days to exchange and a further 28 days to complete, giving a total 56-day window. The reservation fee sits on top of the agreed price and is described as paid by the buyer, not the seller. That description is worth reading twice, and it is one of the reasons MMoA is controversial: the buyer's effective purchase price includes a 5%+ premium they often didn't budget for. For the seller, the upside is access to mortgaged residential buyers who simply can't participate in a 28-day unconditional auction. The downside is that the binding moment moves from "hammer fall" to "reservation paid", and there is more time for things to go wrong before completion.
Who really pays the reservation fee. A buyer works to a total budget, not to a hammer price. If someone can spend £150,000 in total on your house, and the reservation fee at 4.5% plus VAT takes roughly £8,000 of that, then the most they can actually bid is about £142,000. The fee is handed over by the buyer, but it comes out of money that would otherwise have been bid for your property. Your own fee stack then comes off whatever price that leaves. This is why a hammer price and a cash offer aren't the same kind of number. The figure worth comparing is what lands in your account on completion, not the price the lot sold for.
Guide price vs reserve price, and why the gap matters
This is the single most misunderstood part of UK auction selling. The guide price is what appears on the listing, the catalogue, and on Rightmove, usually a range (e.g. £140,000 to £150,000). It is set deliberately at or below the reserve to attract bidder interest. The reserve price is the confidential minimum you have agreed with the auctioneer in writing; the lot can't legally be sold below it without your fresh consent. RICS guidance restricts how far apart these figures can be: the reserve can't exceed the top of the guide-price range by more than 10%. So a property with a £140,000-£150,000 guide can carry a reserve of up to £165,000, but not higher.
The implication is that the guide price you see online isn't the price the property will sell at. It is the price designed to bring people through the door. Sellers who fixate on the guide rather than the reserve often feel ambushed when the lot passes with the top bid sitting at the guide's upper bound. Set the reserve at the lowest price you are genuinely willing to accept on the day. If you would refuse the offer, the reserve is too low. If you would accept anything above that figure with relief, the reserve is right.
Set your reserve against a real number, not a guess
A written offer from us costs you nothing and gives you a floor to test the reserve against. No obligation either way, and nothing appears on Rightmove.
See what we'd payWhat does and doesn't suit auction
Auction isn't a general-purpose route. It is a specialist tool that outperforms estate agents for some types of property and underperforms for others. Use the rough filter below.
Properties that suit auction
Refurbishment projects
Empty, derelict, or fire and flood damaged stock, priced for developers who actually want the work.
Non-traditional construction
Cornish, Airey, Reema and BISF types that high-street mortgage lenders won't touch.
Short-lease flats
Leasehold under 80 years, where the lease itself is what makes the flat hard to mortgage.
Survey-flagged problems
Japanese knotweed, subsidence, or anything else a survey has already turned up and priced in.
Tenanted units and portfolios
Buy-to-let sold as an investment, with the tenants staying exactly where they are.
Probate and repossession stock
Where holding costs are mounting, or a mortgagee has a duty to evidence market exposure.
Want a real figure rather than an estimate?
Two minutes on the form is enough. We price on the property itself, not to a set percentage, and it's our best offer first time.
See what we'd payProperties that suit auction less well
- Standard, well-presented family homes in good condition, these usually achieve a higher gross via an estate agent.
- Properties where the seller needs to maximise sale price above all else and has time to wait.
- Sellers who can't tolerate the published guide price appearing online and on the portals.
- Properties where the seller may need to back out (relationship change, job offer abroad, family illness), withdrawal fees are real.
Setting a realistic reserve, three sense checks
- Compare to recent SYK auction comparables, not estate-agent asking prices. Estate agent listings are aspirational; auction sales are achieved. EIG and Mark Jenkinson's results pages publish historical sold prices. Land Registry sold-price data also shows post-auction completions.
- Build a fee-adjusted floor. Take the lowest net figure you can accept, add 5% for the fee stack, and that is your reserve. If your floor net is £140,000, your reserve is £147,000, not £140,000.
- Stress-test against a direct cash offer. A reputable cash buyer will give you a written offer the same day with no obligation. If the cash offer is above your reserve net of auction fees, the auction route is hard to justify unless you have a positive reason to prefer it.
Auction houses serving South Yorkshire in 2026
South Yorkshire is well served by both regional and national auction houses. The names that appear most often in Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley catalogues are:
- Mark Jenkinson, founded 1877 in Sheffield, now operating as part of BTG Eddisons Property Auctions. Monthly online sales with a regional bias toward South Yorkshire stock. The default first call for many Sheffield solicitors handling probate or repossession instructions.
- Auction House South Yorkshire, head office at Bramall Lane, Sheffield. Part of the national Auction House UK network. Covers Sheffield, Rotherham, Chapeltown, Barnsley and Doncaster. Mixes residential, commercial and land lots.
- Pugh & Co. Leeds-based, now part of BTG Eddisons alongside Mark Jenkinson and SDL. Routinely lots Doncaster and Rotherham stock; long pedigree in commercial and ex-public sector property.
- Bond Wolfe. Birmingham-headquartered with national coverage. South Yorkshire lots appear regularly in their large monthly catalogues. Strong buyer reach beyond the region.
- SDL Property Auctions, now part of BTG Eddisons. Strong on modern method of auction listings and online-only sales.
- Auction House London & Allsop, used by some institutional sellers for higher-value SYK stock that wants London-buyer reach.
For straightforward residential stock in S1-S26, S60-S66, DN1-DN12 and S70-S75, the regional choice between Mark Jenkinson and Auction House South Yorkshire is usually decided by which one the seller's solicitor already has a working relationship with.
The legal pack, what you have to disclose
The legal pack is a non-negotiable part of UK auction selling. It must be ready for bidders to download at least seven days before sale day, ideally earlier. Contents typically include:
- Official copy of the register of title and title plan (Land Registry).
- Local authority search, drainage and water search, environmental search, plus any flood, mining or chancel repair searches relevant to the locality.
- TA6/BASPI Property Information Form: the seller's disclosures on boundaries, disputes, notices, planning, building control, insurance, environmental matters, occupiers.
- TA10 Fixtures and Fittings Form.
- Auctioneer's special conditions of sale (binding contract terms specific to the lot).
- Leasehold management information (where applicable): lease, service charge accounts, ground rent statements, LPE1.
- Any tenancy agreements, deposit protection certificates and rent statements (for tenanted lots).
- Planning consents, FENSA, gas/electrical certificates, indemnity policies (where applicable).
Material information rules under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which superseded the older NTSELAT Parts A, B and C guidance from May 2025, require sellers and agents to disclose anything that would influence an average buyer's transactional decision. The auction legal pack is the formal vehicle for that disclosure, and getting it wrong (concealing knotweed, an unauthorised loft conversion, an unpaid service charge bill) can void the sale and trigger damages.
Already paid for the legal pack?
None of that work is wasted. The searches and title your solicitor pulled together are exactly what speeds a direct sale up, which is why a sale to us is usually quicker after an auction than before one.
Get my free cash offerSouth Yorkshire Property Buyers: direct cash purchase
If you want auction-grade speed and certainty without the fee stack, the auction window, or the unsold-lot risk, a direct cash purchase is the alternative. We are a small local team buying as principal, not a portal and not a national brand passing your details to a panel. We buy with our own funds across South Yorkshire, North Derbyshire, North Nottinghamshire and North Lincolnshire, and you speak to the people who make the decision. Free same day written offer, completion in 7 to 28 days on a date you choose, no entry fee, no commission, no buyer's premium, and we can cover your legal fees if you use our panel solicitor. We buy in any condition: refurbishment lots, knotweed, subsidence, non-traditional construction, short leases, tenanted buy-to-lets and probate stock.
Compare a cash offer against an auction estimate before you commit
A same day written offer costs you nothing and gives you a real number to test the auction route against. Completion in 7 to 28 days, on your date, with no commission and your legal fees covered if you use our panel solicitor.
Get a Free Cash OfferFrequently asked questions
Plan on six to ten weeks total. Most UK auction houses run monthly catalogues with a four-to-six-week marketing window between instruction and sale day. After the hammer falls, traditional unconditional auction completes within 28 days; modern method of auction (conditional) allows up to 56 days. A direct cash buyer can usually complete in 7 to 28 days on a date you choose.
Traditional (unconditional) auction exchanges contracts the moment the hammer falls, the buyer pays a 10% deposit on the day and has 28 days to complete, with no finance get-out. Modern method of auction (MMoA, also called conditional auction) is online and timed: the winning bidder pays a non-refundable reservation fee (typically 4.2% to 5% of the price plus VAT, often with a £6,000 minimum) and then has 28 days to exchange and a further 28 days to complete. MMoA accepts mortgaged buyers; traditional auction is effectively cash-only.
Entry fee £200 to £500 (often waived), auctioneer commission 2% to 3% plus VAT on the sale price, legal pack preparation £300 to £1,200 plus VAT, and any unsold-lot or withdrawal fee, typically around £1,000 plus VAT if you withdraw less than 48 hours before auction. On a £150,000 sale you are usually £4,500 to £6,500 lighter once everything is paid. A direct cash buyer covers your legal fees and charges no commission or premium.
The guide price is the marketing figure published in the catalogue and on the portals, usually a range, set deliberately below the reserve to attract bidders. The reserve price is the confidential minimum you have agreed with the auctioneer; the lot can't be sold below it without your fresh consent. RICS guidance restricts the reserve to within 10% of the top of the guide-price range.
EIG's Q1 2026 data shows monthly sale rates of 67.6% (January), 72.2% (February) and 68.6% (March). Roughly one in three lots are passed (unsold) at the hammer. Sale rates rise modestly with post-auction private treaty deals on passed lots, but anyone selling at auction should plan for the possibility of a no-sale and the relisting costs that follow.
Mark Jenkinson (Sheffield, founded 1877, now part of BTG Eddisons), Auction House South Yorkshire (Bramall Lane head office, covers Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Chapeltown), Pugh & Co (Leeds-based, regular Doncaster and Rotherham stock), Bond Wolfe (Birmingham-headquartered with national coverage) and SDL Property Auctions are the most active names in 2026 SYK catalogues.
Before the hammer falls, yes: but most auctioneer terms require written notice at least 48 hours before the auction and impose a withdrawal fee of around £1,000 plus VAT, plus your legal-pack costs are already spent. Once a bid at or above the reserve is accepted (traditional auction), contracts are exchanged in the room and you are legally committed to sell.
Refurbishment lots, fire- or flood-damaged stock, non-traditional construction (Cornish, Airey, Reema), short-lease flats, Japanese knotweed properties, subsidence cases, tenanted buy-to-lets, probate lots with mounting holding costs, repossession sales, and any property that has stalled on the open market. Auction works less well for standard mortgageable family homes.
Yes. The legal pack is a non-negotiable part of UK auction selling and must be ready at least seven days before sale day. It contains the title register, local authority and environmental searches, TA6/BASPI, TA10, the auctioneer's special conditions, any leasehold management information, and any tenancy paperwork. Material information rules under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 apply.
Often, yes, once you net out the fee stack. A direct cash buyer pays no commission, no buyer's premium, no entry fee, and usually covers your legal fees. Completion is on a date you choose (commonly 7 to 28 days). Auction can outperform on price if competitive bidding pushes the lot above the reserve, but it can also fall short or fail to sell. For sellers prioritising certainty, a fixed date or privacy, the direct cash route is usually the better fit. If price matters most and your property would get a mortgage, an estate agent or auction may well pay more.
Please note: taxes including Capital Gains Tax remain the seller's responsibility. We recommend seeking independent tax advice if applicable. This page is general information, not legal, financial or tax advice for your specific circumstances.
Probably not, if your hearing is only a few weeks away. Auction means a four to six week wait for sale day, then up to 28 days to complete after the hammer falls, so six to ten weeks in total is normal. A direct cash sale can complete in 7 to 28 days, and the fastest we have done is 7 days. Either way, tell your lender a sale is under way.
Yes, in most cases. We can complete in as little as 7 days, or hold off and complete on a date that suits you, for example when probate finishes or when you get the keys to your next home. Auction is less flexible, because under the traditional format completion is fixed at 28 days after the hammer falls. Tell us the date you need and we will work back from it.
You have four options. The auctioneer can try to sell it privately in the days after the sale, you can go into the next catalogue, you can drop the reserve, or you can switch route completely. Around one in three lots pass unsold, so this is common and not a sign your house is unsellable. Because your legal pack is already done, a cash sale after a failed auction is usually quick.
Under a traditional auction the buyer has already exchanged contracts, so they lose their 10% deposit if they walk away. You still have to start again though, and that costs you weeks. Under the modern method the buyer pays a reservation fee and then has up to 56 days, so there is more time for things to go wrong. With a direct cash sale there is no chain, no mortgage and no bidder to lose.
Less than a full open market sale would usually achieve, but we won't put a percentage on it before we have spoken to you. There is no formula. Every property is priced on what it actually is and on what you tell us about it. The figure we give you is our best offer at that point, not an opening number we work up from. Auction can beat what we offer if two or more bidders want your house, but it can also fall short, and the fees take roughly 3 to 5% of whatever it sells for. We will tell you honestly if we think auction or an estate agent would leave you better off. If your house would get a mortgage and you have time to wait, it often will.
Yes, but read your auction agreement first. Most auctioneers charge a withdrawal fee of around £1,000 plus VAT if you pull out close to sale day, and your legal pack cost is already spent. Some contracts also tie you in for a set period. Get our written offer, put the two numbers side by side including the cost of getting out, and only move if you are genuinely better off.
That depends on how much the waiting costs you. An empty house still needs insurance, council tax and basic upkeep. Many councils also charge extra council tax on homes left empty for a long time. Those costs run for the six to ten weeks an auction takes. Add the auction fees, then compare the total with a cash offer that completes in 7 to 28 days. Sometimes auction still wins. Do the sum before you commit.
Our offer stands for 14 days, so nobody is pushing you to decide on the spot. Use the time to get an auction valuation, talk to family, or take advice. The offer is based on what you tell us about the house, so if something significant turns up in the legal work the figure may need to change. We will always explain why if that happens.
Yes. Tell us the address and the basic details and we can put a written offer to you the same day. We ring you back as fast as we can once you have been in touch. There is no charge, no viewings to arrange and no obligation to accept. If you would rather we looked round first, we can arrange that at a time that suits you.
Worth reading before you commit to a lot
Cash Buyer vs Auction, the Full Comparison
What each route actually nets you once the fees, the delay and the risk of not selling are counted in.
Read guide →
How Much Do Cash Buyers Offer Below Market Value?
An honest look at where a cash offer sits against an asking price, and what you save that never shows in the headline figure.
Read guide →
What to Do When a House Sale Falls Through
If your auction buyer missed the completion deadline, the position is much the same. Here's what your options are.
Read guide →Compare a cash offer against your auction estimate
Tell us about the property and we'll send our best offer in writing the same day. If auction genuinely suits you better, we'll say so.
Our promise to you: We will never pressure you into a sale. Your enquiry is completely confidential. If we make you an offer and it isn't right for you, there is absolutely no obligation to proceed.