How to get your own Scottish island for the same price as a London garage

A Scottish island has gone on the market – for the price of a London car parking space.

Deer Island, or Eilean an Fheidh, on Loch Moidary will go up for auction on March 26 with a starting bid of £80,000.

The opening price could also get you a parking space near Clapham Junction, South London according to property webside Rightmove.co.uk.

Deer Island has no house or amenities but is covered with a patch of native woodland.

Deer Island on Loch Moidart in the west Highlands is now up for sale at starting bids of £80,000. PIC: Caroline Legg/CC

It spans a modest 11 acres.

It sits next to Eilean Shona, which is owned by the sister of billionaire Richard Branson, and which is open to a limited number of tourists in normal times. A tiny island off Eilean Shona is home to a couple and their toddler son.

But there is little chance of any one dropping by to Deer Island.

Indeed, auctioneers handling the sale said there was “zero chance of intrusion” on the hideaway.

Future Auctions, which is dealing with Deer Island, said the the sale was a “rare opportunity” to buy a Scottish island with the land “nestled in the stunning and tranquil Loch Moidart on the dramatic West Coast of Scotland."

It said: “The uninhabited island is located within an extremely popular sea loch certain to appeal to investors from all over the world.”

The island sits around 30 miles from Glenfinnan and around 45 miles from Fort William, which has good train links across the UK.

Last month, carer Vanessa Rochester gave an insight into life on the loch, where she lives on a tiny island off Eilean Shona with her husband, who maintains the island, and their one-year-old boy.

To get to work, she hikes for 30 minutes in the early morning – usually guided by moonlight – rows across a tidal channel in a RIB boat and then drives for an hour to Fort William.

She said: 'It's all worth it. I really enjoy my job. I love working with elderly people, it's a really good team that I work with, plus I get to see other people - which otherwise doesn't happen much.”

Deer Island was held by Clanranald of Moidart for generations although it is unclear who is selling the island later this month.

Castle Tioram, a ruin which sits on another of the islands on the loch, was also held by the clan.

Moidart, together with Morar, Arisaig and Knoydart, forms part of the Rough Bounds, which is known for its wild and rugged landscape.

As well as Deer Island, buyers with £80,000 – if not in the market for a Clapham parking space, might consider a one-bedroomed houseboat for sale in Limehouse Dock for £79,995.

Rightmove.co.uk suggests it would suit a couple and that the 51ft boat boasts "loads of character throughout and the mechanical heart of the boat is running well."

In Scotland, the opening bid could buy a three-bedroom terrace house in Ardrossan (£72,000), a two-bedroom traditional tenement flat in Paisley (£75,000) and a one-bedroom modern apartment in Parkhead, Glasgow (£80,000), according to property pricing site Zoopla.

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