£29 can land you title and patch of Scottish land

Oct 4 2008 By Jack Mathieson

WOULD-be landowners are getting the chance to buy their own slice of Scottish countryside - for £29.

Each of the tiny chunks of land comes with a title, "Laird of Bandrum".

An enterprising company are selling the five-squarefoot parcels.

They are promoted on the internet, including ebay.

Scottish Land Sales' website identifies couple Liz and Sandy Dean as "High Keepers of the Land".

They have bought the hilltop site of Bandrum in Saline, Fife, six miles west of Dunfermline.

Their blurb boasts that the opportunity to buy a plot for £29.95 is "a MUST for the land enthusiast and all lovers of Scotland".

If all the minute plots, beside Saline golf course and above a respite home, are sold, they would raise nearly £400,000.

Potential buyers are told: "This is prime and beautiful land, not some remote moor or worthless bog.

"The land has truly stunning views over the Firth of Forth to the world famous Forth Bridge and the William Wallace (Braveheart) Monument at Stirling."

From the hilltop, it's even possible to see Goatfell on Arran on a good day.

The Bandrum Land Pack includes a land deed with a 175-year lease, a personalised presentation photo, an owners' guide and a car window sticker.

The land comes without tax liabilities, and owners can scatter ashes there or even pass it on to their descendants.

But they are forbidden from planting trees or building on it.

A spokesman for the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association said: "One has to admire this for enterprise, even if the concept is not original."

Americans can be a West Fife laird

AMERICANS are being given the chance to become the Laird and Lady of Bandrum with their own idyllic piece of West Fife – and all for the princely sum from £15.95.

The land, on a picturesque site next to Saline golf course, would stay in the owner’s family for 175 years but could not exactly be classed as a country estate.

At just five feet by five feet, you would be struggling to pitch a tent within your boundaries but would-be buyers are assured, “This is prime and beautiful land, not some remote moor or worthless bog.”

The Scottish Land Sales website lures potential customers with “a very rare opportunity to own a little piece of old Scotland”.

It goes on, “The land has truly stunning views over the Firth of Forth to the world famous Forth Bridge and the William Wallace (Braveheart) Monument at Stirling.

“We are at the very epicentre of Scottish history. Virtually every major event that shaped the history of Scotland took place within a radius of 30 miles from this land.

“The plots are located close to a prosperous village and only about 30 minutes travel time from the Scottish capital, Edinburgh.

“A long-established golf course is located on our boundary. This is a MUST for the land enthusiast and all lovers of Scotland.”

As well as their tiny plot, customers also get a land deed and contract, a personalised presentation photograph, an owner’s guidebook to Bandrum and a car window sticker with the logo “I own a wee bit of Scotland”.

They also gain the “exclusive right to scatter the ashes of a loved one on the soil of Bandrum, high above the Firth of Forth where the ancient standing stones of Bandrum have watched over the land for nearly two thousand years”.

Indeed, the company has plans to “establish a scattering service exclusively for plot-holders”.

A question-and-answer section on the website responds to possible queries in the mind of buyers such as “Does possession of this land entitle me to British citizenship?” and “What is a Laird?”

They are informed, “By purchasing a piece of land at Bandrum in the ancient Kingdom of Fife, you have become different from other people (how many people do you know who own land?).

“You have therefore truly earned your status as a landlord and, as a consequence, you become a Laird of the lands of Bandrum (Note: men will be designated as ‘Laird’. Women will be designated ‘Lady’.)”

The man behind the scheme is George Kelly, a Glaswegian now living in Somerset.

He said, “It’s not real land sales, it’s just a bit of fun really. People have bought them for their boyfriends and girlfriends.

“We’ve sold a few hundred of the plots to people overseas but also to people in Scotland. It’s been a steady seller.

“People have written to us saying they’ve been up there to visit the site and have loved it. You certainly couldn’t get a much better view outwith the Highlands.”

By Gary Fitzpatrick