A piece of Lake District land sold for more than five times its guide price and an ex-council house near Kendal went for more than double at an auction.
Brown Howe, which fronts on to Coniston Water, had a guide price of £60,000 at the H&H Land & Estates auction, but went under the hammer for £310,000.
There was UK-wide interest in Brown Howe, a 3.35-acre block of land with approximately 55m of lake frontage, the land agency said.
Colin Tomlinson, managing director of H&H Land & Estates, said: “We knew from the outset that Brown Howe was going to be popular as it had a scarcity value.
“Parcels of land with lake frontage, especially on somewhere as beautiful as Coniston Water, very rarely come to the market. The result was way in excess of what we ever imagined.
“The recent pandemic has exacerbated popularity of purchasing land for personal use.
“More and more people are looking for opportunities to be able to enjoy the simplicity of the countryside and to reap the benefits of a lifestyle in the great outdoors.”
The auction was the first in-person event held by H&H Land & Estates for two years and took place at a packed Kendal Town Hall last Friday.
Dodding Holme, a semi-detached, three-bedroom house in need of a complete overhaul, had a guide price of £90,000.
It was eventually sold with a final bid of £213,000.
Mr Tomlinson added: “Currently there is not a huge number of choices for property such as Dodding Holme, and being only a five-minute drive from Kendal, it was in a sought-after area.
“This is a massive restoration project, but that certainly didn’t deter buyers. What this sale demonstrates is that people are keen to obtain properties which they can personalise to their own taste.”
