Isle of Man – guesthouses now plush apartments

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by Kay Murchie

The Isle of Man is situated in the heart of the British Isles and is a member of the British Commonwealth but not part of the UK.

According to some experts, this small island in the middle of the Irish Sea is in the midst of an economic boom.

Dis-used guesthouses are now becoming plush apartments and the harbour is getting a marina. The country is today a major player in financial services. Over 40 banks are licensed to operate on the island with deposits nearing £50 billion. Almost 300 trust and corporate service providers are registered with the authorities and funds either managed or administered in the island exceed $50 billion.

Alastair Ramsey from the office of the island’s most senior administrator, the Chief Secretary, said financial services is the main industry today. The economic boom has been largely driven by that, but in the last few years we have started to diversify.

Furthermore, the island boasts a specialist precision engineering base, an international shipping register and a growing movie industry which contributes about £20 million to the annual budget.

Property prices have increased, in 1995 the average house price went from £84,657 to approximately £250,000 this year, equal to the average for the counties outside London.

Work is being carried out on former hotels and guesthouses which have become obsolete due to the decline in tourism. One development is an 80 studio and one and two-bedroom apartments in a new block on Douglas promenade called Spectrum. Prices start at £112,500 and the first 40 sold within weeks of being released.

Furthermore, 50 one and two-bedroom apartments priced from £189,950 are situated on the front at Ramsey on the east coast and are in demand.

The island’s leading estate agency, Chrystals, said today’s average Isle of Man house price of £250,000 would buy you a 1940s, three-bed semi with a garage and a reasonable garden, or a two-bedroom, modern estate semi-detached in Douglas. Shane McGee of the agency said you would pay a lot more for a 3-bedroom, detached house, if you could find one. The limited supply has led to enormous increases in prices. The market has risen by 10% already this year.

Mr McGee added that he is finding a lack of big houses. The tax regime is attractive to people of high net worth and they mopped up quite a bit of the supply last year, he added.

The island is renowned for the Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) Race motorcycle racing which has been held on the island for 100 years.

Travelling to and from the Isle of Man is much simpler today, the island’s ferry operator is the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. Airlines serving the Island are Aer Arann, Flybe, Eastern Airways, VLM Airlines, Manx2, Euromanx, British Airways operated by Loganair and Blue Islands.