Dream house on a dream plot alert.

Rising up over the beach and with views across the Atlantic and the Hills of Harris, this is one breathtaking spot.

Now, seven new high-end houses - each with their own access road - will span this stretch of land at Griminish in North Uist, which is being sold off by local farmer Angus MacDonald.

The houses are being described as a first for the Uists given the scale of the plots for sale and the likely expense of building a home here.

Outline planning permission has been given for the homes - one has already been built - but each property needs to be designed and constructed following the purchase of a plot, which cost £150,000 each plus a service charge for water.

Amid ongoing concerns about the lack of affordable homes for islanders - particularly young people - amid sharp rises in house values, Mr MacDonald readily said the homes at Griminish will most likely be for retirees or those wanting to relocate from the mainland.

He said: “I think really the majority of people who will live there will be people who have moved from the mainland. It won’t be young local families, unfortunately, as it will be out of their price range. It will be semi-retired or retired people, I think.

“They will be high end at Griminish because of the cost of the land and the cost of the build. It will be expensive. People will have to sell something on the mainland or have a bit of money about them before they come here.”

Mr MacDonald described the area as ‘New Luskentyre’ with North Uist still relatively untouched compared to other parts of the Outer Hebrides.

He said: “North Uist is not really known. Everybody knows Barra and Tiree and Harris but few people know about North Uist. If you tell people that is where you are from, people say ‘oh where is that, is that Shetland?’

“People don’t know it as it is not pushed as much. I find the area around there at Griminish is like the New Luskentyre. It is so secluded and it is clear of the main road.

“It is elevated above the beach looking across to the beautiful island of Vallay, you have the Atlantic swell on the west side and you can see the hills of Harris in the distance. You have panoramic views, it is beautiful, the sea is turquoise coloured.”

Mr MacDonald said the property market on the islands was “very slow” at the moment when compared to the boom around Covid, but that he “knew” it would bounce back given “people want to live here now”.

Data shows house prices rose in the Western Isles by 135 per cent between 2004 and 2022 with ongoing warnings about industry struggling to recruit staff given a shortage in affordable housing.

Mr MacDonald said: “If a young local couple came to me wanting a plot, I would sell it to them cheaper just to help get them started."

He added that islanders - both young and old - were now returning from the mainland to set up home.

He said: “People my age are coming back as they left and now want to return and retire here. More importantly, my children’s friends want to live here, so they are coming back here too. Young men and women are bringing their children back and there has been a baby boom here in the last year. It is fantastic.”

Colin Shaw, of Uist Property, which is marketing the plots at Griminish, said there had been a “mix of interest” in the plots, mainly from retirees and those seeking second homes, with inquiries coming predominantly from the mainland.

He said: “It is a fresh development. We haven’t had anything like this before.”

Of the description of the site as a ‘New Luskentyre’, he added: “I think Luskentyre is coming to an end. I think the prices have outstripped themselves. North Uist is not restricted to Griminish. It has a load of good beaches and some of them have been described as amongst the best in the world.”

Luxury housing development at 'New Luskentyre' in Outer Hebrides 'a first' for island

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