Private island on River Thames up for auction with no reserve price

An aerial view of Hallsmead Ait on the Thames - (Savills)

Fancy taking a gamble on a forested private island on the Thames? Then you might want to mark November 25 in your calendar, because that’s when Hallsmead Ait, a triangular island or eyot on the Berkshire-Oxfordshire border is going up for auction.

The 4.75-acre island sits on a rural patch of the river between the picturesque villages of Sonning and Wargrave, and is close to Shiplake Lock.

“Can I live on it?” we hear you ask. Well, it’s complicated.

Up until now, as far as anybody knows, the island has been a quiet patch of nature that boaters on the Thames simply pass by.

The current landing pontoon for boats on the island (Savills)

The current owner, entrepreneur Jamie Waller, has used it for leisure visits and installed a 12m-long jetty for boat landings, but that is currently the only structure on the island.

Director and auctioneer Gary Murphy, who will be heading up the sale come November 25, says it’s up to buyers to investigate any potential the land might have before that date and make their own decisions.

He doesn’t have a sense of how much planning permission could be given for building on the land – hence the gamble.

As it stands, Murphy says, you could simply use the land as an extended garden, or “if you own a boat or you're hiring a boat nearby, you can visit it, you could put a picnic rug down, you could spend the day there, maybe do a little bit of freshwater swimming”.

The island is currently covered in woodland (Savills)

Otherwise, there might be a chance to build a boathouse or summerhouse on the land, as there is a thinning license in place already to thin the trees on the land down (but not remove them altogether).

“And then whether you could spend time overnight there, and go further and get planning consent for a little temporary lodge, where you can sleep temporarily... All of this, I think, would require planning, but what fun!” Murphy says.

Ideas on what to do with the land in the hypothetical have been flowing – so far a yoga retreat in the woods has also been suggested.

“It's all very zen and peaceful, and very close to nature. And it's wooded so there's an awful lot of wildlife there. And that part of the river all along, the Thames there, it's very beautiful.”

The natural environment of the island attracts plenty of wildlife (Savills)

The island has not been given a guide price, as Murphy says its incredibly difficult to asses the market value of a unique plot like this, but it is being sold without reserve – meaning the auctioneer has to accept the highest bid whatever it may be.

“If the highest bid is £100, I will drop the hammer on £100,” Murphy says.

“It’s a blank canvas and it's for anyone to use their imagination and pick up the potential to make the best use of it to their taste.”