Yours for £250k, dream isle with loch and beaches
(but it has no water or electricity)
MOST of us dream at some point of living on a beautiful remote island away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Now that dream could become a reality, thanks to a Shetland island that has gone on sale after being uninhabited for more than 70 years.
Linga is on the market for only £250,000 – the same as a two-bedroom flat in a smart area of Edinburgh or Glasgow.
Home only to breeding otters, guillemots and seals, the 64-acre island has a number of pristine, white beaches and a
‘It needs a younger person to take over’
loch. Linga has no power, water supply or internet – but the new owners will get permission to create an eco-tourism business.
This includes permission to install wind-generated power and a pier – and to restore two derelict croft houses as holiday homes. Bob Thomson, who bought the island in 2008, is selling in the hope a new owner can finish off his ambitious project.
Mr Thomson, said: ‘I was brought up in Walls – on Mainland Shetland near Linga – and as a child used to play on the island in the school holidays with friends, as we grew up in small boats.’
He would like someone ‘really dedicated’ to complete his vision of reviving the island community to purchase it.
He added: ‘It needs a younger person to take over and complete the concept. Owning an island in Shetland is the best feeling ever and it is very sad to have to consider selling, especially as the development concept has received such fantastic local support.
‘When talking to people abroad about owning the island, they are always really impressed. My wife especially likes to tell people we meet overseas about Linga.’
Approval has been granted to rebuild the derelict croft houses alongside a new cottage to provide self-catering accommodation with en suite facilities and ground source heat pumps. An 11kW windmill and solar panels to provide power to the island for the first time have also been approved, as well as new sewage and rainwater capture systems for water supply.
It has been uninhabited for decades, the last known person to have lived on Linga being Captain James Fraser, who died in 1931. It lies in the Vaila Sound, with only a few hundred yards of sea separating it from Walls.
Shetland estate agent Neil Risk’s brochure says: ‘This is a unique opportunity to buy an unspoilt 63.75-acre island. Linga is located close to Mainland, with year-round access possible.
‘It is a place of spectacular scen- ery and beauty, with an abundance of wildlife.’
Shetland is the most northerly part of the British Isles, closer to Norway than Scotland.
Sheltered f rom the Atlantic Ocean by the larger island of Vaila, Linga is small enough to walk across in less than half an hour.
There is evidence of prehistoric settlements on Linga – but by 1881, it was recorded to have been home to 13 people split between two families. By 1901, only one of the houses was still inhabited.
The brochure adds: ‘ Visitors would be able to take part in traditional crofting and fishing activities. Considerable design and study work has been completed, along with a fully developed business plan.’
Mr Risk said: ‘This is the first time we’ve sold an island. We have had quite a lot of interest and it’s only just gone on the market. We’re expecting there to be a lot more interest.’