This ‘rare’ private island could be yours for less than £100K
Looking for a bit of peace and quiet? This private island could be exactly what you need.
Found on the River Thames – near Bisham in Berkshire, to be specific – is the idyllic Temple Weir Island, up for sale for £75,000. All things considered, that’s not too bad for an entire private island.
Measuring approximately 2,000 square feet (around the size of a family home), the space was previously used for mooring and private fishing and includes a small underwater sandbank. Bougie or what?
Next door, there are two islands connected to the mainland. One has a few houses and a private marina, and the other is connected to Temple Lock and Weir.
This particular island, described as a ‘rare’ opportunity by Savills property agent Richard Maby, is nestled between the two of them.
On one side, there are mooring facilities in case you wanted to channel your inner sailor (which arguably you’d need to if you lived here else you’d be trapped). And on the other side, there’s a natural tree-lined bank for extra privacy.
If you still want to commute into London, it’s relatively easy to do so. But if you’re not up for buying yourself a boat and paddling your way down the Thames, Bisham is around 1 hour and 24 minutes from central London by car.
There’s also a train from Maidenhead directly into London Paddington, which takes 26 minutes.
Sadly, there isn’t a house here already – but there is a pergola where you could either enjoy a picnic or watch the world go by. You’ll need to plan ahead though, as there are also no electricity, water or drainage services.
‘There are two things that are special about this: one is the scarcity of this type of thing – they’re very, very rare on the market,’ Maby told the Evening Standard.
‘And the second is its position, situated between Marlow and Henley. There are fewer nicer parts of the Thames, and it’s just idyllic. It’s a magical part of the Thames Valley.’
Interested? Temple Weir Island will be sold through a bidding process, and if you’d like to submit an offer, you’ll need to do so before midday on Friday July 5.
Elsewhere, if you want to put down roots further afield, a similarly remote island went up for sale in Scotland earlier this month for £500,000.
While Mullagrach Island boasts a whopping 88.7 acres (35.9 hectares) of land, it’s in the middle of nowhere and only has a tiny log cabin for you to live in.
Its new owner will need to take a 35-minute boat ride to get to and from the mainland, while the nearest city – Inverness – is a two-hour, 80-mile journey away.
If you don’t mind the isolation, though, it could be the perfect home – especially since it’s up for auction with a starting price that’s a whopping £57,000 less than the average London flat.
Now to work out how you can have WiFi installed so as not to become a complete hermit…