Astle House up for auction

The historic Grade II listed Astle House near West Bromwich town centre will go to auction again next month after repeatedly failing to find a buyer for the property.

The building dates back to 1883 and is the former home of the famous printing and publishing firm Kenrick & Jefferson.

It has been on the market for months and despite some interest in the property, a buyer has still not yet been found.

It will now be auctioned by Bigwood at Villa Park on December 8 with a guide price of in excess of £500,000.

The building has already failed to sell at auction twice and it was hoped it would be sold on the open market.

It was last at auction at Aston Villa's Holte Suite in April where interest failed to extent to the £550,000 guide price.

This was four months after a sale fell through at the 11th hour.

In October last year it was set to be sold for £525,000 £50,000 below the original asking price but, despite a large deposit being put down, the sale once again fell through.

Astle House covers 10,000sq ft and is next to the Astle Park outlet retail complex, which features high street chain stores such as Next, Marks & Spencer and Nike.

The site has already been granted permission by Sandwell Council to be transformed into a leisure venture.