Buy your own slice of island life for the price of an apartment
For $520,000, buyers in many Australian coastal markets might expect a modest apartment; however, in Bass Strait, the same asking price buys 17.2 hectares on Little Dog Island with two private beaches, two cedar huts and endless natural habitat.
The property is about 15 minutes by boat from Lady Barron Wharf through sheltered waters in Tasmania’s Furneaux Group south of Flinders Island and has returned to the market after previously being under offer and falling through.
The sale is for a freehold parcel, not the whole island. Little Dog Island covers about 83 hectares in total, with two other freehold titles and Crown land encompassing the remainder of the island.
The listing is drawing a lot of attention, but as the buyer’s representative explains, while living on an island is incomparable, he has been encouraging potential investors to consider the realities.
“Everybody loves an island,” the representative says. “But when it comes down to actually owning, using and enjoying one, the logistics are harder than having a property where you drive up and go home on Sunday. That is also one of the attractions – it is a total disconnect, getting away into wild nature.”
An island recovering
Living remotely in the thick of nature means the new owners will be custodians of the land.
The wider island is an important seabird rookery, and the Tasmanian government says little penguins have begun returning after eradicating wild foxes and cats earlier this year, while the island hosts colonies of short-tailed shearwaters.
Weed control is among the projects a future owner could undertake, while any building proposal would need to respond sensitively to the island’s ecology.
“For somebody who wants to leave it in a better place than they found it, that is a project they could really get stuck into,” says the representative.
What buyers get on Little Dog Island
The combination of blue water, a relatively sheltered crossing and services on nearby Flinders Island set the property apart from more remote island holdings.
“You have a home base on Flinders Island, which has what you need, such as a supermarket, pub, doctor and a community,” the representative says. “You can fly in, collect food and put the boat in the water. Ten or 15 minutes later, you are on the island.”
Two existing cedar huts, joined by a deck, and a composting toilet allow the site to be used for basic camping immediately. The prospect of a private holiday home would be subject to council approval, while a dwelling would require a discretionary permit and buyers should obtain their own planning advice.
“You need to like boats, you need to not mind getting wet, and you are carting gear over and setting it up,” the representative says of building on the island. “But what you end up with is a really special place.”
Who buys an island?
Interest has come from traditional escape-seekers, but also from buyers who had assumed private island ownership required eight-figure wealth.
“There are people who have always liked the idea of owning an island and thought they would need $20 million to do it,” the representative says. “Then they realise this is actually doable.”
Enquiries had also come from younger people priced out of capital-city housing, including prospective buyers considering pooling funds with friends, using the property as a long-term project and enjoying it along the way.
“Others are looking at beach houses and realising that, for this money, they might get half a beach house in an ordinary beach town,” the representative says. “Here, for less, you are getting a beautiful remote-island property.”
The same owner is also selling an off-market freehold title on nearby Little Green Island, one of just two freehold titles on the island, spanning approximately 6.5 hectares, with a beach at either end.
This opportunity is also an expressions of interest campaign with a reserve of the council valuation of $330,000.
Sold by expressions of interest, with the reserve set at the council valuation of $520,000.
