For Sale - one remote Orkney island
with £110,000 asking price
Comes with warmer and drier weather than London says sales patter
(From The Orcadian dated October 4, 2001)

A remote island – complete with prehistoric sites and a loch – is up for grabs in Orkney. With an asking price of £110,000, the 62-acre Holm of Huip which lies off Stronsay could be yours.

The privately-owned island was spotted on the website of Vladi Private Islands, who have offices in Germany and Canada selling islands worldwide. More than 4.5 million people have logged on to their site hoping to find the island of their dreams, whether it be in Orkney, America, Canada, Italy, or the Seychelles.

Prices vary from $7.5 million for a 25-acre island with harbour and villa near Genoa in Italy, to a one-acre island near Sweden with a main and guesthouse at $85,000.

The Holm of Huip was at one time owned by people on Stronsay, but one islander suggested that it was now owned by a London firm. The island is nearly a mile long and quarter of a mile wide. There are five registered prehistoric cairns, although little is known about them. At the northern end, there is a fresh water loch, Veltieskerry Loch, with a hide for bird watching. At the other end there are the remains of a derelict stone croft.

The island is advertised as having a mild climate, fertile soil and “extremely” friendly Orcadians.

Moreover and perhaps questionably, the sellers say the island’s average temperature, warmed by the Gulf Stream, is higher than London and it has lower rainfall.