Isle take it! Remote Scottish island spanning 11 acres with no buildings or amenities sells for four times its £80,000 asking price
- Buyer from south of the border paid £311,000 for the uninhabited Deer Island
- Island’s nearest neighbour is Richard Branson’s sister, Vanessa Branson, 62
- Deer Island was on offer for less than a one-bedroom flat in Inverness
A remote 11-acre island in the west Highlands with no buildings or amenities has sold for four times its £80,000 asking price.
A buyer from south of the border paid £311,000 and beat off over 100 other bidders for the uninhabited Deer Island, which had belonged to the same family for 500 years.
The island’s nearest neighbour is Richard Branson’s sister. Vanessa Branson, 62, and husband Robert Devereux, bought the much larger Eilean Shona island, across a stretch of water, for about £1.3million in 1995.
Deer Island (rear) – or Eilean an Fheidh – on Loch Moidary, in the west Highlands, boasts no houses or amenities and is covered in a patch of native woodland
The island’s nearest neighbour is Richard Branson’s sister. Vanessa Branson, 62, and husband Robert Devereux, bought the much larger Eilean Shona island, across a stretch of water, for about £1.3million in 1995
Deer Island, sitting in the middle of the beautiful Loch Moidart in the west Highlands, was on offer for less than a one-bedroom flat in Inverness or Aberdeen or a garage in South London.
Boasting neither a house nor amenities, the secluded space is covered in native woodland, something the newest owner of the island would have to care for and maintain.
One prospective buyer told agents he wanted it “as somewhere to park his yacht” while another who wanted it as a base for kayaking.
Named in Gaelic as Eilean an Fheidh (Deer Island), the isle was sold for the first time in 500 years by Future Property Auctions.
A buyer from south of the border paid £311,000 and beat off over 100 other bidders for the uninhabited Deer Island, which had belonged to the same family for 500 years
Situated near to Castle Tioram, the traditional seat of the MacDonalds of Clanranald clan, the uninhabited plot of land will afford the mystery buyer unparalleled seclusion and privacy.
Auctioneers had said that there is “zero chance of intrusion” on the uninhabited island that is around 45 miles from Fort William.
In total there were 145 bidders each vying for a chance to own a part of the Highlands.
The price tag has stunned many potential buyers as it is the same as a garage on the Shaftesbury Estate (pictured) in Battersea, South London
The listing said: “The uninhabited island is located within an extremely popular sea loch certain to appeal to investors from all over the world.”
Across a stretch of water is Eilean Shona, a small neighbouring island owned by Vanessa Branson, 62, the sister of Richard Branson. She and her husband, Robert Devereux, bought the island for about £1.3 million in 1995.
Eilean Shona, which is thought to derive from the Old Norse phrase for ‘sea island’, was once leased to JM Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. It was while on the island with his foster sons that Barrie reportedly adapted the 1904 play for its first screen outing in 1924.
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