When we were in (on?) Lewis in June 2005 we took a look at some of the houses that were for sale and one we particularly liked the look of was this one at Skigersta (typical Hebridean weather!).
It was on the market at the time for offers over £75,000 and sold four months later for £80,000. Now, a fraction over 3 years later, it’s back on the market at an astonishing ‘offers over £135,000′!
If we accept what’s being fed to us that house prices have dropped by 15% in the past year that means that the asking price of this particular house doubled in just two years. It’s not as though it was a wreck that has been done up because it was in ‘walk in’ condition when we saw it in 2005. That’s simply ridiculous and does nobody on Lewis any good except, maybe, the person who bought it. Even then, if they were local they will hardly benefit because they are going to have to pay a ridiculously inflated price for whatever they move into. On the other hand if it was bought by someone off-island as a speculative investment they have, indeed, made a healthy profit (assuming it sells). They probably don’t give a stuff about making it impossible for native islanders to buy a house of their own. It’s just money, money, money!
A few months earlier we were staying in a self-catering cottage in Cnip (actually one half of a house). The lady who owned it (who had lived there since she was married and whose husband’s family had farmed the croft since the 1850’s) was bemoaning the fact that another house in the township (of which there are only 15 houses) had recently been sold for £115,000, a sum that had most local people amazed and saddened. She felt (rightly) that such figures would drive away the youth of the area who could never afford a house at that price. In the event the sale fell through but the house was sold a few months later for £138,000! Within six weeks it had been given a lick of white paint and was put back on the market at £200,000. That’s disgraceful. I am sure that it must have been bought by an off-island speculator who knew nothing and cared nothing about the local people. Luckily it seems that it did not sell and whoever bought it still owns it. They were probably hanging on waiting for the next house price explosion. Serves them right! I hope they lose money.
In my opinion houses should be bought and sold for someone to live in, not as investments or money-grabbing opportunities. That’s part of the reason why so many folk are in dire straits now. I don’t feel at all sorry for those who have lost out in their attempts to make money but I do care about young people and locals who will now probably never be able to buy a house of their own.
If you want to check how the prices have risen in your area a good site for Scotland and the Islands is nethouseprices. You just need to enter a postcode and you will get (actual) local sales prices for the past couple of years.
Woke up to a lovely morning so decided to go to Seahouses and check out the trips to the Farne Islands. The weather looked good so we bought our tickets for the 10 am trip. Had a bit of a walk round, it’s really picturesque in a funny sort of a way. Bought some cakes then back to the camper to get the things for the trip. Quite a lot of people going on the early boat - although nowhere near as many as were waiting when we got back - and off we went. 
We toured around quite a few of the islands , slowing down to take pictures of seals, before we landed on Inner Farne. We had about an hour and you are restricted as to were you can go but Les got quite a few photos. Too late for the puffins, though we did see a few flying around. They are here in May and June - we may well come back next year earlier when they are nesting. The trip was great, weather stayed fine and got just a little cloudy when we got back to Seahouses but still warm. Picked up some milk and a couple more cakes. After having some lunch and a snooze we went to have a look at the other camp site.
We are here now (the other site) and it’s much, much, better looking out over Budle Bay and only about a dozen or so campers - it was definitely worth moving. Maybe heading up to Berwick tomorrow - we shall see.
