Whole street of 24 homes in Gloucestershire sells for £2.5m in under five minutes

An entire street of 24 homes put up for sale by a charity leaving residents scared for their future has sold for £2.5million. Dock Road in Sharpness in Gloucestershire has been auctioned by the Canal and River Trust - and fetched a million more than expected.

Deemed as an "incredibly popular" lot by the auctioneer the road was sold in less than five minutes on Thursday (November 7) with people making their offers online and on the phone, with an original selling price of £1.575m. The single lot - marketed by auction house Allsop - was described as a ‘rare unbroken street'.

It comprises of twelve terrace houses, eight semi-detached and two detached properties. The sale included two semi-detached mixed use buildings, a single-storey workshop, three garages and 1.7 acres of vacant land - one of the buildings was the Sharpness Post Office.

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Tenants were informed of the sale through a letter from Allsop - and said they are 'shocked and worried' - adding that a new owner would likely increase rents. A trust spokesperson dismissed the claim saying there "would be no change to the residents’ tenancies".

The street currently generates rents of about £168,000 for the Canal and River Trust. Before the sale, a number of the residents spoke of their concerns. It is understood they won't know who their new landlord is for a few weeks.

Amanda Cawston, 54, who has lived on the same house for almost three years with her husband and son, said: "We thought we would be here forever and now we don't know what the future holds."

Jack Meredith, 29, who only moved to the street one month ago said before the sale went through: "It is a lovely little site down here - it is perfect for everyone and most people down here work in the docks anyway so this is ideal.

Suze Ashford-Barnes, 42, has been living in the same street for seven years - she said she was not shocked with the landlords decision of auctioning the street. However she stated that it wasn't 'very nice' to get the letter as she would have preferred to being told personally.

She said: "They couldn't sell the houses because of the sewage system. 'So when they started to fix the circular sewage system that meant the houses could be sold.

"If the prices go up so be it really - we like living here as long as they fix the damp problem we are fine with it because it is difficult to find anywhere else to rent. We like it and we accept that it is cheaper here and we don't intend to move anywhere else.

"The houses were built by hand by the dock workers - there is a lot of history. It is a real attachment for us - we are lucky to live here."

A spokesman for the Canal and River Trust said there "would be no change to the residents’ tenancy agreements". They said ahead of the sale: "We understand that a change of ownership might seem unsettling, but in practice, whilst there will be a change of owner there won’t be a change to our resident’s tenancies i.e. nobody is required to leave their home and the properties will be sold on the same terms as the tenants have in place.