Symonds & Sampson · UK property auction

Bid on Symonds & Sampson lots with the legal position priced in - not exchanged blind.

Symonds & Sampson is an independent LLP describing itself as one of the UK’s leading independent property auctioneers, with core areas across Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Wiltshire and Hampshire and lots sold across nine counties. Auctions are held roughly monthly as genuine physical events at rotating venues - Sherborne, Axminster and Wimborne among them - with livestream, telephone and proxy bidding alongside the room. The catalogue carries an unusually strong land and rural strand, and a sibling agricultural and grass keep auction operation runs alongside it.

Region: Core areas across Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Wiltshire and Hampshire, having sold across nine counties from Cornwall to Shropshire, Berkshire and Oxford.
Auction calendar: Roughly monthly collective sales held as physical events at rotating venues in Sherborne, Axminster and Wimborne, with livestream, telephone and proxy bidding alongside the room. Lots are usually listed approximately six weeks before the sale.

Page reviewed 4 September 2026

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Symonds & Sampson

How Symonds & Sampson legal packs are structured.

The firm takes an explicit position against the modern method, stating that its auctions are not to be confused with sales that amount to a best-bids scenario with no more than agreement of a figure at closure rather than exchange of contracts. Lots run on the Common Auction Conditions and the general conditions for an unconditional immediate-exchange auction.

Legal packs are hosted on EIG with registration through an Auction Passport, and lots are usually listed approximately six weeks before the auction date - a longer working window than most houses give. If the pack is updated after you have downloaded it, you receive an email. Addenda are handled in a way that reflects the room format: proxy bidders are advised to telephone the auctioneer’s offices before 10am on the day of the sale to find out whether any addenda apply, rather than relying on a published document. Symonds & Sampson publishes a full buyer-side scale - a Buyer’s Administration Fee of £1,800 including VAT, reduced to £960 including VAT on lots at or below £50,000, with a deposit of ten per cent or £2,000 whichever is greater, and a £10,000 bidder security hold. Unusually, the legal documents themselves carry a download charge of between £12 and £24 including VAT.

Pack conventions at Symonds & Sampson

Genuine room auctions at rotating venues, with livestream, telephone and proxy bidding alongside
Lots are usually listed approximately six weeks before the auction date
Legal packs are hosted on EIG with registration via an Auction Passport; updates after you download trigger an email
Proxy bidders are advised to telephone the auctioneer before 10am on sale day to find out whether any addenda apply
The Buyer’s Administration Fee is £1,800 including VAT, reduced to £960 including VAT on lots at or below £50,000
The deposit is 10% or £2,000, whichever is greater, and a £10,000 bidder security hold applies
Legal documents carry a download charge of between £12 and £24 including VAT

What Symonds & Sampson sells

Residential, commercial and development lots alongside a pronounced land and rural strand - farms, agricultural land, barns and building plots, with prices reported as particularly strong for agricultural land. Rural lots move the review decisively away from building condition and towards access and rights of way, sporting and mineral rights, overage provisions, agricultural occupancy conditions and the precise extent of what the plan actually includes.

For how the process works across every house, see our auction legal pack review page.

A realistic example

Three findings from a Symonds & Sampson review.

Anonymised illustrations, chosen to be representative of the issues that arise on Symonds & Sampson lots. Every report rates each finding red, amber or green and sets out what to do about it.

F-01 Red

Agricultural land subject to an overage provision

A clawback provision entitles the previous owner to a share of any uplift on the grant of planning permission for a period of years, which the development appraisal behind the bid does not account for.

F-02 Amber

Addenda confirmed only by telephone on sale morning

Proxy bidders are advised to telephone before 10am on the day to establish whether any addenda apply, so a bid lodged earlier is made without that information unless the call is made.

F-03 Green

Unconditional sale on the Common Auction Conditions

The lot sells on the Common Auction Conditions with immediate exchange, and the published buyer’s administration fee band is confirmed for the price range in contemplation.

Anonymised examples · illustrative only · not drawn from any identifiable lot

The review

The Bidq review for Symonds & Sampson lots.

Upload the pack, answer five questions, and an SRA-regulated solicitor reads every document against a structured framework - title, special conditions, searches, leases and tenancies - returning a bid posture, category scores and numbered R/A/G findings.

Standard Report £595 + VAT · average turnaround 28h 24-Hour Report £895 + VAT · expedited SLA Complex Transaction Review £1,495 + VAT · senior solicitor review

The full process is set out on how it works, and you can read a complete report on the sample report page.

FAQ

Symonds & Sampson - common questions.

Quick answers on coverage, turnaround and how Bidq fits alongside your solicitor.

How do I find out about addenda if I am bidding by proxy?

Symonds & Sampson advises proxy bidders to telephone the auctioneer’s offices before 10am on the day of the sale to find out whether any addenda apply. That is a deliberate step rather than an automatic notification, so it needs building into your plan - a proxy bid lodged earlier is otherwise made without knowing whether the terms have changed.

What are the buyer-side costs on a Symonds & Sampson lot?

The Buyer’s Administration Fee is published at £1,800 including VAT, reduced to £960 including VAT on lots sold at or below £50,000. The deposit is ten per cent or £2,000, whichever is greater, and a £10,000 bidder security hold applies. The legal documents themselves also carry a download charge of between £12 and £24 including VAT - a small but unusual item most houses do not levy.

Do you review farms, agricultural land and rural lots?

Yes, and they need a different emphasis from residential stock. The review concentrates on the extent of the registered title against the plan, rights of way and access, sporting and mineral rights, any overage or clawback provisions, agricultural occupancy conditions and rights held by third parties over the land. Bidq reports on the legal pack and does not give planning, valuation or agricultural advice.

Symonds & Sampson is explicitly traditional rather than modern method. What does that mean?

It means the sales are unconditional and run on the Common Auction Conditions with immediate exchange: the fall of the hammer binds you, with a deposit payable at once. The firm distinguishes this expressly from arrangements that amount to agreeing a figure without exchanging contracts. The practical consequence is that everything must be known before you bid.

Lots are listed six weeks ahead. How early should I order a review?

As soon as the pack is available. A six-week listing window is longer than most houses give and it is worth using: it leaves room to raise questions with the seller’s solicitor, obtain any missing search and, on a rural lot, take an access or overage point to your own consultants before the sale rather than after.

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