An American auction house is offering UK agents £1,000 to register a bidder – even if that bidder is unsuccessful.

Concierge Auctions is to sell its first British properties on December 20, with seven prime central London apartments on offer.

This will be its first sale of any property in the UK.

The auction, which will take place in New York, comes on the back of the increasing appeal of London to US dollar buyers.

Charlie Smith, Concierge Auctions’ European adviser, said: “Eighteen months ago, a £2m property would have cost a dollar-based purchaser just shy of $3.5m.

“In today’s market it comes in just under $2.5m. The exchange rate difference between the pound and the dollar is expected to remain consistent, and dollar-based buyers can strike a bargain on London property.”

The £1,000 introduction bonus for agents who register a bidder will be paid regardless of whether they are the successful purchaser or not.

Smith said: “We expect the negotiation bonus we are offering agents to lead to a boost in registered  buyers in the run-up to the auction.

“Under the bonus system, an agent will receive the £1,000 bonus for any buyer who registers for the sale, regardless of whether or not they buy the property.

“If the agent brings us two potential buyers, they will get £2,000; three interested buyers will gain them £3,000 and so on. Should their registered buyer win the auction, the agent will also receive an additional 1% fee.

“It has been a well-received way of working on previous auctions and we expect it to prove popular for our next sale.”

To register a buyer, agents need to  enter their own details in the ‘register to bid’ button on the relevant property page on www.conciergeauctions.com

We would be interested to know what agents think of the offer.