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This private island is on sale for less than the price of your average London flat

I'll take four!

This private island is on sale for less than the price of your average London flat
Tom Victor
31 January 2018

As disheartening as it might sound, there are a lot of Londoners who will never be able to own their own place in the capital.

It’s dawned on us that avocados and lattes aren’t the only things keeping folks from property ownership – the off-putting price of houses plays quite a big part too.

The situation has led people to go to extreme lengths, living in cupboards, garages, or even sheds.

And now… well now it’s finally happened. You can pick up your own private island for less than the cost of a London pad.

In fact, it’ll cost barely half as much.

According to the UK House Price Index, the average cost of a house in the UK sat at £226,071 as of November 2017.

However, if you look at London only, you can almost double that to £421,781 for first-time buyers, or tag on another £120,000 on average if it isn’t your first rodeo.

Compared to that, the prospect of your own private island for just £250,000 seems eminently affordable.

And the best part? You won’t even need a new passport, as you won’t be living the British Isles.

The island in question is near Walls, Shetland

The island in question is Linga, off the coast of Shetland, to the north of the Scottish mainland, and is listed by Vladi Private Islands.

It comes with planning permission to rebuild the two existing cottages on the island, which have been uninhabited for decades, and to build a new one to go alongside them.

While part of the UK, it is actually further north than the Norwegian capital Oslo, and just shy of 1,000km away from London – about the same as the distance between London and Berlin.

This makes it a good fit for anyone who’s had a taste of the city life and wants to get as far away as possible.

Of course you could just stump up a little less for a regular house elsewhere in the country, but that’s not as fun as being able to say you own your own island.

(Images: Azrul Aziz/Rex)