Island community running at half power

19th February 2023

Only half of the housing stock in the Isle of Tiree has a permanent resident, social enterprise Isle Develop has revealed.

Isle Develop CIC runs isleHoliday.com, the island alternative to Airbnb. Based in Tiree, they have conducted extensive research to assess the status of the island housing stock. Their research reveals that 46% of Tiree housing stock is not lived in year round. The vast majority of that is owned off-island.

“At a time when our care home is worryingly short staffed, teachers are turning down job offers due to a lack of housing, and our hospitality sector is desperate for staff, this should be addressed urgently.”

More shockingly, 27% of the island housing stock comprises houses which are neither permanently lived in, nor let out. They are empty except for a few weeks a year.

Rhoda Meek, who founded Isle Develop CIC said, “We expected to find a lot of properties which are short term holiday lets, and indeed they do make up 15% of our housing stock. What we were most surprised to find was the 27% which essentially do nothing.

“That’s 167 houses sitting empty almost all year round. They could be long term lets, which we are crying out for, but for the sake of a few weeks holiday a year, they sit empty. We only have 70 properties on long term lets - and those are almost all owned by housing associations. For context we have counted 608 properties on the island.

“At a time when our care home is worryingly short staffed, teachers are turning down job offers due to a lack of housing, and our hospitality sector is desperate for staff, this should be addressed urgently.”

Isle Develop CIC set up the island shopping site isle20.com during the pandemic, in an effort to alleviate the impact on small businesses who predominantly sell to tourists. Since then, they have launched sister site isleHoliday.com which is a community focussed alternative to Airbnb, committed to reinvesting profits into island communities.

Rhoda continues, “This is not about vilifying people. It’s about trying to protect communities, culture and in the case of the Scottish islands, language. We are on a knife edge, and we are not alone. This story is repeated across the islands, the Lake District, Cornwall - anywhere there are pretty places to commodify.

“We’re calling on the Scottish Government, Local Authorities and second home owners to help us before it’s too late. If you say you love our islands, it’s time to put your money - or your property - where your mouth is.”

isleHoliday has been created to try and help with this enormous challenge.

We understand that second homes and letting properties exist for a variety of reasons, not least for island residents to subsidise income, or to keep a grip of a fast disappearing heritage.

And we don’t want to lose tourism — we live in beautiful places, which we want to share. More businesses than we can count rely on it in so many ways. It is vital.

But tourism needs to work better. Being a “destination” needs to work for the benefit of island communities. Without the communities, there is no destination.

If you own a letting property in the islands, please consider listing on isleHoliday.com. You don’t have to leave other platforms — this is simply an additional option. If you are booked up for 2023, we don’t don’t mind — 2024 isn’t far away!

If you holiday in the islands, please consider booking through isleHoliday.com.

If you can’t find something suitable (we’re just getting started) then please tell people about us. Or do your shopping on isle20.com and sign up to the newsletter.

Or just share this and help us start to turn the tide.

If you’re a property owner and still wondering… When you sign up to be listed on isleHoliday, you get:

One-to-one support via email, phone or video call. We know it’s daunting setting up something new, but we’re here to help.
A passionate team who love to talk all things island — we know our Bernerays from our Benbeculas!
Full control of your pricing; unlike Airbnb, our commission is fixed and upfront. No hidden costs, and no price hikes for your guests.
SUPERHOG damage insurance
An optional web page and domain name, just for you.
A great guest experience with our tailored and informative island emails.
Peace of mind knowing that the commission we take will be used to make the islands we all love more sustainable and resilient.