Buy this Scottish island getaway for under $430,000

Hayley Skirka

Anyone looking to truly escape the rat race now has the chance to buy this Scottish island getaway.

Pladda Rock in the Firth of Clyde is on the market for £350,000 ($426,000) — less than the average price of a one-bedroom Dubai apartment.

The 11-hectare island is off the southern tip of Arran, on Scotland’s rugged west coast, and is uninhabited, meaning buyers will have it as their own private escape.

Accessible by boat or helicopter, the isle is surrounded by what agents Knight Frank describe as “breathtaking views” overlooking the south coast of Arran, Ailsa Craig and out towards Northern Ireland.

The listing comes with a five-bedroom former lighthouse-keeper’s cottage including two reception rooms and a bathroom, plus a separate one-bedroom cottage. Agents point out that the existing accommodation has not been used in recent years so will “need to be upgraded”.

There is also a fully functioning lighthouse towering nearly 30 metres above the island. Remotely monitored by the Northern Lighthouse Board in Edinburgh, the beacon flashes white lights every 30 seconds to guide passing ships.

Buyers won’t actually own the lighthouse, but they will lay claim to everything else on the isle including more than 2.5 hectares of grazing pastures, 1,600 metres of rocky shoreline, a stone jetty with an open boathouse, a single-room bothy and a helipad.

The pear-shaped island is also home to a range of outbuildings with development potential for buyers that want to make their own mark on the historic island.

Nature lovers will be in their element on Pladda as seals, dolphins and otters are often spotted in the Firth of Clyde waters. And the rock is also an important spot for migratory seabirds, with more than 100 species spotted in recent years including gulls, turnstones and Arctic terns.

Courtesy: thenationalnews