An introvert's paradise or an ecotourism business: remote islands in Scotland are looking for new owners
An original acquisition and a profitable investment is the purchase of your own island. And now, very conveniently, the British have put up for auction two islands located in the Shetland Archipelago, a harsh edge off the coast of Scotland. They have very different prices and initial data, but if desired and with sufficient funding, both islands can be turned into ecological resorts. Or settle here, enjoying the beautiful nature and solitude.
Source: Daily Mail and Business Insider
The first real estate object is Linga Island with an area of 26 hectares. The asking price is 250 thousand pounds (about 19.5 million rubles), which is half the cost of an average apartment in London.
Linga Island is located between Scotland and Norway, 500 meters from the village of Walls on the Mainland, the "main" island of the Shetland archipelago, part of Scotland.
The island has been uninhabited for more than eight decades: the last person who lived here was Captain James Fraser, who died in 1931.
And although the Mainland can be reached by regular ferry and aviation flights, the future owner will need his own boat to get to the island itself.
Now there is no infrastructure on the island: the only buildings are two destroyed cottages.
However, as noted in the proposal, a permit is attached to the island for the construction of new agricultural structures, including a cottage, and the reconstruction of existing buildings. There are also approved plans for the construction of a berth, a storage facility, a solar-powered power plant, rainwater collection and storage systems. All this may someday be the beginning of a potential tourism business. There would be money.
In the archipelago, which includes the island, the main occupation of the population is fishing and obtaining renewable energy. The famous Shetland ponies and Shetland Shepherds are also bred there.
This is not the only island in the archipelago that has been put up for sale over the past year. In the summer of 2017, they announced the search for buyers of the island of Alva for 4.25 pounds sterling (almost 338 million rubles).
Alva Island is the second largest island in the group of the Scottish Inner Hebrides. The length of the island is about 12 km, the width is about 4 km, and the area is 1.8 thousand hectares. 123 species of birds live on its territory, including the white-tailed sea eagle. There are also red deer on the island. Whales, sea otters and dolphins can be seen in the waters off the island.
The incredible local landscapes inspired Walter Scott's poem "The Lord of the Isles" in 1815.
In 1945, Lady Edith Congleton bought the island and to this day it is owned by her descendants, the Howard family.
On the island there is a neoclassical mansion built in the 1950s, a church, a sports house, the house museum of milkmaid Sheila McFadyen and seven other properties.
The mansion was built in the 50s of the last century to replace the old one, which burned down during the renovation. This is how its interior looks like.
You can get to the mainland from the island by ferry. There are no paved roads and cars here, except for a few ATVs and tractors. For tourists, a restaurant-tea room was built on the pier, but there is no hotel — you can rent small cabins.