Business / Global interest in island of Vaila
Offers over £1.75m are invited for the Shetland island, and it is seemingly caught the imagination of people across the world
THE ISLAND of Vaila is attracting interest from all over the world after it went up for sale earlier this summer.
It has become the most viewed residential property on estate agent Savills’ UK website this year already.
And 80 per cent of people who have visited the isle in person for a viewing are based outside the UK.
With the island featuring the eye-catching B-listed Vaila Hall, a watch tower and other buildings, news of the sale attracted big interest online.
And Luke French of Savills said this has been reflected in the hits on the property listing’s webpage.
“While just over 50 per cent of visitors to the website have been from the UK (33,536 views), the remainder have come from a wide range of international locations including the US, Germany, Australia, Andorra, Canada, Thailand, France, The Netherlands and Italy,” he told Shetland News.
“What has been surprising is the number of people from around the world who have gone on to make a formal enquiry and then to visit in person, with 80 per cent of all in-person viewings coming from overseas buyers.
“Clearly a property as individualistic and eye catching as the Isle of Vaila will garner a great deal of online interest, and we are now carefully processing all of these enquiries to ascertain which of these are potential buyers with the appropriate circumstances and funds for such a purchase.”
Rowland and Rychlik have owned Vaila – which lies off the west mainland of Shetland and is accessed by boat – for around 30 years and have lovingly restoring the main residence, which features a baronial hall and stained glass windows.
The isle was previously owned by Herbert Anderton, a Yorkshire mill owner who bought it in 1893. He expanded the Old Haa – built in 1696 – to make what is now known as Vaila Hall.
Prior to that Arthur Anderson, the founder of P&O, leased the island in 1837 and established the Shetland Fishing Company there. As many as 30 people were listed as employed on the island in 1901.
French said that since the Covid pandemic struck in 2020 there has been an increase in the number of buyers who are looking for the “tranquillity, privacy and proximity to nature and wildlife that such a lifestyle affords”.
This was also reflected in increased demand for the more day-to-day properties in Shetland.
“The rise in remote working in recent times has greatly expanded the number of people now able to consider buying an island,” French added.
“The increasingly diverse local economy, with its focus on sustainable and emerging technologies, is also driving interest in the Shetland Islands as a place to live and work.”
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