Should we restrict sales of island plots?

That was the line that caught most people’s eye while reading our sister paper, The Scotsman, when the article originally appeared.

It’s fair to say the writer, himself an islander, never expected the backlash it would cause with a slew of complaints that by publicising the sale in such a ‘romantic’ way, he was simply pandering to a pre-existing problem - that of young people on the island being unable to afford homes or land to build on. Many are snapped up as second or holiday homes and land sells for exorbitant prices, particularly plots with views.

But surely it’s a sellers market, and property will find its own level depending upon interest. But how do you stop land being sold to the highest bidder? Isn’t that the whole purpose of a sale, that the seller wants the highest price he can, while a buyer hopes to purchase at a price they think is reasonable?

Or are we saying that land should in some way be preserved, or sold only to those with an island heritage?

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