Pioneering female auctioneer Lucy Crapper on why she is sold on Sheffield - rising damp and all
Auctions remain popular for those seeking to build their dreams on property
One the country’s few female auctioneers is celebrating a new job and almost two decades of selling Sheffield.
Lucy Crapper has joined BTG Eddisons Property Auctions, the latest step in a career forged at her auctioneer father Patrick’s knee.
As a child, Saturday mornings would be spent visiting properties. It was decidedly unglamorous.
Lucy said: “We’d visit empty homes in remote locations and he’d point to the walls and say ‘that’s rising damp’. The job got into my blood that way.”
Starting in 2007, she has sold hundreds of properties, including a sea fort in the Humber estuary, and says it’s a privilege to see families in homes that changed hands.
Auctions remain popular because they offer security, she adds. When the hammer comes down it’s yours. No chains, no delays, no last minute demands and no gazumping.
They also continue to be the place to find unusual lots going cheap - although there may be issues.
In the next auction in May, a four-bed terrace in Crookes is on for just £125,000, but it has structural problems.
Not everyone is put off. In an auction in January, two wrecked terraces in Meersbrook went for £100,000 over the asking price.
Quirky can also attract attention.
In the next BTG Eddisons auction, a former coach house in S11 has a guide price of £50,000, and it is already generating lots of interest, Lucy says.
Despite going online in Covid, the job remains very traditional and male-orientated. Lucy believes she is one of fewer than 10 female auctioneers in the country.
“There are still relatively few female property auctioneers in the UK, so I’m very proud to be one of them.”
She added: “I’m a people person. I really rely on charity auctions to get my ‘live’ fix. There’s nothing quite like having a room full or people in front of you.”
In October, she will auction off the lions from the ‘Pride of Yorkshire’ art trail to raise money for Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity.
She’ll be using the family gavel, won by her dad in a competition in 1961 and passed down to her, demonstrating a pedigree in property few can match.
She also remains passionate about selling Sheffield, due to its heritage, greenery, creativity and musical heritage.
She said: “Why would you not want to live in Sheffield?”