Heavily wooded island in Thames sold at auction for almost £100,000

AN island in the River Thames has sold at auction for almost £100,000.

Hallsmead Ait, a large, triangular, heavily wooded island, is located on the reach above Shiplake Lock.

It measures about 1.92 hectares, and the freehold went to auction with Savills estate agents online on Monday, where it fetched £99,470.

The island was acquired by businessman and entrepreneur Jamie Waller when he bought the old Shiplake vicarage for about half a million pounds about four years ago.

Mr Waller, 46, said he wished to sell the island, which comes with its own landing pontoon, as he was moving out of Henley.

The guide price was set to “no reserve”, meaning the lot sold to the highest bidder, whatever the price.

Mr Waller said offering the property at reserve price underscored his confidence in the market’s appetite for “distinctive” assets.

Agents Savills had said the site “offers the ultimate retreat… ideal for entrepreneurs, creatives [and] high-net-worth individuals” and was located on “one of the most picturesque reaches of the River Thames”.

The listing also mentioned the stretch of river having “sweeping views across the water and a rich variety of wildlife along its banks”.

The island was in vacant possession, meaning the property would be completely empty when it is handed over and the buyer can take full control and use it immediately. Prior to the sale, bidders were warned to do their homework before bidding due to potential flood risk, how they will get to the island, if the land has wildlife protections, whether there are limits on using the river around it and what permissions they would need to build anything there.

The sale included a thinning licence, which is official permission to cut down or remove some trees on land.

Hallsmead Ait neighbours another island — The Lynch, which is a similarly-shaped eyot used for “island adventures” by the nearby Shiplake College. Mr Waller, who grew up in London’s East End, founded the debt collection and outsourcing company JBW Group, fintech solutions company Hito, the private equity firm Firestarters and the fintech company Just, where he serves as chair.

He has featured on television several times, including on BBC One’s Bailiffs, follow-up show The Enforcers and debt advice show Beat the Bailiff.

He has also written two books, Unsexy Business and The Dyslexic Entrepreneur.

Mr Waller, who has now moved to London, said prior to the sale that the island was ready for “imaginative use”.