Tayvallich Estate to be sold off in smaller lots

“Also, if potential buyers have children who can help us keep the school going, that would place them at the very front of any lists.”

The rural burden Mr Leggett refers to includes a covenant for the property to be used as a primary residence and has been widely welcomed by the local community. 

Martin Mellor chairperson of the Tayvallich Initiative told the Advertiser: “Tayvallich Initiative understands that Highlands Rewilding are offering the houses for sale at Coshandrochaid with Rural Housing Burdens so that purchasers undertake to live in the houses as their primary residence.

“This commitment carries across all future sales, helping to safeguard the population in the community from generation to generation. This is a very exciting opportunity that we hope helps more young people and families move to the area.”

Although the smaller lots are not yet officially on the market, Mr Leggett told the Advertiser that local interest in the sale has already been keen.

“The brochures for the buildings we are selling haven’t been made public yet, but my e-mail to the community has already elicited interest from prospective local buyers, and people originally from Tayvallich seeking to return.

“That will leave us with a problem, but a quality problem: how to decide who gets to buy most fairly, within the time constraints we have because of loan repayment (a strict deadline of the end of May). We will do our best.”

The money Highlands Rewilding initially borrowed to buy the Tayvallich Estate amounted to £12 million, and the CEO admitted that the company has faced significant obstacles in arranging repayment.

“Taking out the loans has proved to be a challenging business,” he told the Advertiser.

“We hoped we could find a financial institution or two in 2024 willing to restructure the debt and/or invest equity. None were. 

“But the benefits make the risk worthwhile, and in sum they greatly increase our chance of finding equity investment in the months ahead.”

Mr Leggett explained that many of these benefits have already been achieved at Tayvallich and include “keeping the prospect of nature recovery and community centredness alive on the land”.

The company has carried out large-scale research on natural habitats on the estate and has employed local people to manage the land and work as rangers. 

In addition, Highland Rewilding has negotiated a memorandum of understanding with the Tayvallich Initiative that sets out the terms of landowner-community relationships.