Celebrating 30 Pioneering Years of Pattinson Auction!

This month marks 30 years since an innovation which changed the way properties are bought and sold via auction by Keith Pattinson Estate Agents in 1992.   Realising that there were hurdles for some residential buyers to purchasing via auction but there were benefits of having a secure sale for both buyers and sellers, Keith Pattinson created the ‘Conditional auction’ now widely replicated by other auction houses across the country sometimes known as ‘Section 2’ (as that was where it was in the catalogue) or the ‘Modern Method’. 

A word from Keith Pattinson himself, ‘I recently found an article written almost 30 years ago in The Journal. It announced my idea of a new way to sell property by auction which paved the way and became successful for both sellers and buyers. Our award-winning auction house continues to grow, and we have an impressive portfolio of thousands of independent estate agents who refer clients both nationally and internationally. It is without a doubt, a solution which offers a secure sale approach, considerably reducing fall throughs, to everyone’s benefit.’ 

As the property market has changed and technology alongside it, Pattinsons have continued to adapt and evolve the auction model, but the underlying objective has always been the same, to ensure that sellers are achieving the best price with commitment from a buyer.  ‘It shows how long we have been running auctions that the deposit was originally £500, which was a lot of money at the time!’   

Pattinsons worked with other independent estate agents to help with the marketing of the properties, sharing the sales fees where they carried out viewings and helped to produce the photographs and property details. This then developed from simply referring stock, to actively recruiting agents to offer them the ability to have their own auction service at no cost. Pattinson Auction has continued to expand, creating a network of agents across the UK which now includes over 2,500 branches.  

‘We really do see it as a partnership with other agents,’ explains Caroline Pattinson, Managing Director. ‘Something which makes us unique as an auction provider, is that we can speak with genuine experience of being both an auction house and an estate agent. We have excellent relationships with our partners and share ideas about auction and agency.   We also continue to refer properties to our partners which means it is a reciprocal relationship where we aren’t just asking them for stock, but we pass properties to them as well.’ 

Continuing to innovate, online bidding was introduced as an alternative to the traditional monthly in room auctions which Pattinson continued to offer in tandem up until February 2020. ‘Investing in technology over the years has allowed Pattinsons to stay on the front foot,’ Justin Beckwith, Auction Director points out, ‘The March 2020 catalogue had already gone to print, but we realised that the pandemic was developing at pace, it was clear that bringing people together in a room would be the wrong thing to do when we had the technology to allow people to safely bid from home. We moved all the properties from the in-room auction to online auctions seamlessly.' 

With its fast pace and pro-active approach, the team continues to build professional relationships with agents and clients both nationally and most recently, internationally. ‘The next obvious step for us is to expand internationally,’ Justin Beckwith goes on to say. ‘We are putting the plans in place to move this forward in 2023 and it is really exciting.’  

Auction is a valid option for all motivated sellers irrespective of the property, and anyone whose sales have previously fallen through. The commitment to buyers will become more important during these times, and Pattinson Auction has exciting developments ahead.