Lifestyle2 min(s) read
Published 13:04 27 Apr 2020 GMT
Right now would be a really nice time to own your own private island. In fact, when wouldn't it be a really nice time to own your own private island?
But most of us will usually just put the dream of owning our own island down to nothing more than that; a dream. After all, surely that's only the sort of thing millionaires can afford to do... right? Well, no.
An entire private island is currently for sale in Shetland, Scotland, for around the same price as a house.
The island of Linga, located in Vaila Sound, on the west side of Shetland, is currently on the market for offers over £250,000 ($310,000 USD).
To put that into context, HouseBeautiful.com reported earlier this year that average house price in the UK is now £234,742 ($292,183). In fact, the average property value in London is now up to £483,922 ($602,337).
Just take a moment to digest those numbers. For nearly half the price you could get a one or two-bedroom apartment in London, you could actually buy your own frickin' island.
Vladi Private Islands, the company currently selling the island, describe it as:
"A unique opportunity to buy an unspoilt 63.75-acre island located in the scenic and sheltered Vaila Sound on the west side of Shetland. This private island is located close to the Mainland with year-round access possible. Shetland is the most northerly island group of the British Isles, closer to Norway than Scotland.
"It is a place of spectacular scenery and beauty with an abundance of wildlife. This is an exciting development opportunity with the island having planning consent for the building of a pier and storage shed with reception area, new agricultural buildings, a two-acre loch with traditional watermill as well as the rebuilding of the two derelict cottages and the erection of a new cottage."
Fahad Vladi - the owner of Vladi Private Islands - also told the MailOnline that the price of the island is so low because of how much development it requires. He said:
"In Scotland you have special laws which prohibit you to really develop islands, so we always have to go back to what is there. So if there are farmhouse walls, we are allowed to re-build the house. It is very very sensitive so you cannot develop islands.
"Therefore the prices are according to what you can do – you see the island, you see the acreage, but the question is always what kind of use have you got. If you have only a small stable which you can rebuild, then of course, your use is limited so the prices are lower."
Essentially, you can't purchase the island with the intention of building a small village on it. But in all seriousness, that would spoil all the fun anyway. Who would want to ruin this island by putting people on it?
