You can rent an entire private English island for just £40 a night

Owning an island is reserved for the elite, that 0.01%. However, the rest of us can now enjoy a slice of their wealthy lifestyle for a fraction of the price.

While it can’t compete with Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island, there’s a little gem in the English Channel available to rent for just £40 per night. The island of Lihou is located just off the west coast of Guernsey, with just one habitable structure remaining there — a single house.

Operated by the Lihou Charitable Trust, the home can only be accessed via a rocky passage while the tide is low for two weeks each month.

The area was once part of a bustling seaweed harvesting industry but is now completely unoccupied. It has terrible signal, and you can wave goodbye to Netflix or Spotify, as the house doesn’t have a TV or a sound system — but that makes it an idyllic spot for an off-the-grid getaway.

Visitors are encouraged to put their mobile phones away in a drawer and fully bask in the place’s natural beauty since, once you’re on the island, it’s not easy to get off.

Booking a stay in the house means you’ll be the sole residents of the island for that time, so there’s no fear of a run-in with noisy neighbours or having to make small talk.

Of course, this comes with obstacles — quite literally, in fact, as you have to heave your suitcases up a slippery road for a quarter of a mile in a race against the waves rushing back and covering it.

So, it’s recommended to pack light… but you’ll also have to cater for yourself since Deliveroo is totally out of the question. Once you reach your destination, however, it’s all worth it, as you can swap the hustle of everyday life for peace and tranquillity within a cosy brick abode.

If you’re a nature enthusiast or just simply live for the outdoors, there’s plenty of exploring to be done here, from the island’s ancient priory ruins to the Venus Pool, which forms naturally at a low tide.

As well as the breathtaking views, twitchers can take advantage of the fact that Lihou is a crucial nesting and roosting site for many species of migratory birds.

So what the island lacks in amenities it makes up for in scenery and wildlife, meaning it shouldn’t be hard to make your own fun.

With its £40 per person per night price tag, Lihou House allows a minimum of 10 people to stay. No stag or hen dos are allowed, and the same goes for raucous 18th or 21st birthday celebrations.

School groups can also stay for just £20 per person as, with nine bedrooms and the capacity to sleep 30 people at one time, you certainly won’t be short on space.

The house is fully self-sufficient and has a comfortable layout, generating its own drinking water and electricity through a solar system. In another environmentally friendly touch, it uses gas for the kitchen and a diesel generator.

To access the island, you’ll need to take a Condor Ferry, which operates two routes between the UK and Guernsey, the fastest being from Poole, which takes three hours.