Couple’s dream offers a unique opportunity for next owners
One couple’s dream offers a unique opportunity for the next owners, finds Kirsty Mcluckie
There can’t be many properties which can boast an owl sanctuary as a selling point, but Corry Meadows isn’t the average home.
Set in a prime position overlooking Fishnish Bay on the island of Mull, the property offers a fantastic lifestyle opportunity – particularly for anyone who has spent the first days of this month contemplating the post-festive return to routine with dread.
Corry Meadows consists of three attached, but self-contained, cottages, two of which are currently successfully let out as holiday rentals. Two have three bedrooms, one has two bedrooms, plus a sitting room, kitchen and bath and shower rooms.
Geoff Small, along with his wife Gulmira, bought the original plot of land in 2007 having decided that after years working in the oil industry, he wanted to live in the place he had visited so often as a wildlife-obsessed teenager.
The couple moved from Richmond in North Yorkshire to look for a spot to build their dream property as Geoff explains: “When we saw it, it was just a flat piece of land, but with outline planning permission and a fantastic view.”
To allow them to both live in and make a living from the property, changes to the existing permissions had to be made. Geoff says: “We adapted the plans, because we had the idea that we wanted to make our own work, rather than working for someone else.
“At first we planned three connected holiday cottages, with a detached house for us, but in the end, we extended one of the three cottages to make it big enough for us to live in permanently.”
The couple lived in a caravan while the build was completed – an arrangement which certainly put a deadline on the work to get finished before the winter.
The couple were also expecting their first child, which put the onus on getting at least their accommodation – the middle cottage – ready as soon as possible.
Geoff says: “Fortunately, the build was fairly straightforward, although the first thing we had to construct was a bridge to get on site as there was no way to access it otherwise.”
As soon as the first cottage was at a stage where they could move in, they started work on the prettily named Daisy and Clover cottages on the two wings which had to be ready for guests for their first season.
They also have permission for a wind turbine in the garden for extra income. Every part of Corry Meadows has been designed to contribute to providing a living for its owners.
Their son Henry, who is now seven, was born just after they moved in, meaning that in a short space of the time the couple had moved across the country, changed careers, built three properties, started a new lifestyle and started a family – combined, it was certainly not a task for the faint hearted.
From the beginning they were interested in offering familyfriendly holidays for guests geared towards wildlife spotting.
Geoff says: “From my years of holidaying here, I know that there can be bad weather and you need to make sure there is plenty to see and do on those days, particularly for small children.”
The design of the three homes allows wide-ranging views through floor-to-ceiling windows over the Sound of Mull where, as well as the range of seabirds, otters and seals which can be spotted on the shore there are visits by porpoises, dolphins and basking sharks further out. Telescopes and binoculars are provided in the cottages.
The grounds at Corry Meadows are a wildlife haven too, with two ponds created in a former boggy part of the garden.
An apiary houses the family’s bees and there are wooden walkways through the grounds with plenty of sheltered spots for taking in the views.
A purpose-built elevated hide has allowed for sightings of whitetailed and golden eagles, hen harriers, great northern and red throated divers, gannets, terns and oystercatchers. Geoff has also placed wildlife cameras around the property, so guests don’t need to go outside in bad weather to meet the locals.
There is even a camera under the sea with a monitor in the main building’s “biology lab” where there are microscopes which families can use to explore their findings from pond dipping.
The rescue owls, which are housed in their own home in the garden, are a huge attraction for guests and there is an assortment of snowy, eagle, tawny and barn owls which are either permanent residents, having come from wildlife parks, or occasional visitors such as injured wild owls which are being nursed back to health.
Geoff says: “Ideally, we would like the next owner to have an interest in taking it on as a whole.”
Having done all the hard work – in building the houses, planning the turbine, landscaping the garden and creating the holiday let business – it is time for Gulmira to pursue her career, so the couple plan to move to the mainland.
They leave behind huge potential both for a fantastic rural business and for further development – and there is still planning permission for a house plot in the grounds for the next owner to consider. Offers over £425,000, contact Savills on 0141 222 5875.
The start of the year is usually a quiet time for property deals, but in 2017 there is an added impetus which should see plenty of purchasing activity in certain areas of the market in the next couple of weeks.
The clock is ticking for those interested in accessing government assistance to buy a new-build property, as the deadline for this financial year’s Help to Buy (Scotland) fund nears.
Due to finish at the end of 2016, the deal has been extended to 31 January, on property purchases set to complete before 31 March, 2017.
The date is important for some buyers as the rules change in the future.
Next year’s price threshold for property eligible for the deal – available from 1 April onwards – will be reduced from £230,000 to £200,000, so for those purchasing in that price bracket, time is of the essence.
Help to Buy (Scotland) is a shared equity scheme aimed at helping both first-time buyers and home movers buy a new-build home.
Buyers must have a deposit of at least 5 per cent and the deposit and mortgage must cover a combined minimum of 85 per cent of the purchase price.
The Scottish Government will as a result take a stake of up to 15 per cent, holding security over this proportion till the buyer can purchase outright or sells.
While the maximum threshold for the value of property next year will be £200,000, for its final year, 2018 to 2019, it will decrease again to £175,000.
Crucially, applicants must also be able to show that they couldn’t afford the property without accessing Help to Buy funds.
Housebuilders have responded to the extra time given to deals for this financial year with open viewings and special information events.
Two of Taylor Wimpey’s developments, Almond Park in Musselburgh and Masterton Gardens in Dunfermline, are running events this Sunday from 12 noon to 4pm to offer buyers an opportunity to find out about the scheme.
Using Help to Buy to purchase a £165,000 two-bedroomed endterraced Adam home at Almond Park in Musselburgh for example, buyers would need £8,250 deposit, £24,750 provided from the scheme and a mortgage for the remaining £132,000.
Meanwhile Cruden Homes is adding to the Help to Buy deals at its developments.
Buyers of a three-bedroomed semi-detached Bonaly style villa at Wester Lea in Newtongrange, priced at £194,500, will benefit from free flooring.
Meanwhile, the Woodland Grange development at Wester Cowden, Dalkeith is offering a three bedroomed semi-detached Jay villa, with free flooring and the land and buildings transaction tax paid, saving the buyer £880.
Three-bedroomed Skye townhouses are ready to move into at Cruden Homes’s Granary development in Kirkliston. The prices start from £222,000 – meaning that to access Help to Buy, purchases must be made by this month. www.taylorwimpey.co.uk www.crudenltd.co.uk