Winter sun: new direct flights from London to Barbados mean beach homes from £150k just got a little closer

Jump on one of the new flights from London to Barbados, where homes near the West Coast beaches cost from £150,000. 
Dreamy: brilliant white sand and turquoise waters await on Barbados’s sheltered beaches
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Cathy Hawker13 January 2018

This is the month when we crave a holiday home in the sun, a dream that will be easier to achieve this year as Virgin Atlantic rolls out new twice-weekly flights from Heathrow to Barbados during the Caribbean’s peak winter season.

The new flights, Virgin’s first from Heathrow to the island called “Little England”, bring the airline’s total to eight a week going there from London airports.

With BA’s 12 flights a week from London, it shows the UK’s affection for Barbados is as strong as ever.

The 21 mile-long island is the choice of stars, with Beyoncé, James Corden and Holly Willoughby among the famous faces frequently pictured there.

Barbados tourist figures are rising, up nearly seven per cent year on year.

“Barbados has property prices to suit all, with homes close to the West Coast beaches from £150,000 to £7.5 million,” says Kieran Kelly of Chestertons Barbados. “Even beachfront apartments there start from £374,000.”

The West Coast is the prime side of Barbados, with sandy beaches and the best restaurants. Yet prices remain 20 to 30 per cent below their pre-recession highs.

“Buying costs are around 1.5 per cent, the lowest in the Caribbean, while property is owned freehold with no need for a landowner’s licence and the legal process is based on English law,” says Kelly. “There is no inheritance or capital gains tax and the buying process is very straightforward.”

WEST COAST HOMES

Westmoreland Hills is a gated, eco-friendly resort above the West Coast, a short drive from the five-star favourite Sandy Lane resort and the shops, restaurants and entertainment facilities of Limegrove Lifestyle Centre.

From £370,000: villas with terraces and pools at Westmoreland Hills on the West Coast. Chestertons

With 52 two- to four-bedroom villas and dreamy views to the Caribbean Sea, the sloping eight-acre site has a communal pool, gym and café with an on-site management team to organise rentals and maintenance.

Prices start from £370,000 for a 1,645sq ft, single-storey, two-bedroom villa with terrace and pool, and from £805,500 for a four-bedroom, 2,780sq ft villa. Available through Chestertons Barbados.

Westmoreland Hills represents the best value on the west coast, says Kelly, and the 20 homes already sold have gone mainly to Brits.

But if golf is more your thing, Royal Westmoreland is a large, established sporting resort set in 750 acres around a popular and challenging championship golf course.

There’s plenty to do in this family-friendly resort, with restaurants, an airy clubhouse, swimming pools, a tennis complex and spa — all a short drive from the beach club at Mullins Beach.

Property choices include two-bedroom resale villas from £300,000, two-bedroom apartments from £450,000 and three-bedroom split-level fully furnished villas with good sea views from £749,000.

From £300,000: two-bedroom resale villas at Royal Westmoreland sporting resort. Through Chestertons

A NEW HOTSPOT

Apes Hill Club is a newer golf and polo resort in 450 landscaped acres at the highest point of Barbados.

Small monkeys swing through the trees, polo ponies canter out every morning and golfers can blame errant shots on the distracting views to both the Caribbean West Coast and Atlantic East Coast.

Property for sale through Savills includes land plots from £199,995 and three-bedroom villa project plots, including golf membership and one year of dues, from £674,000.

£562,500: semi-detached villa, three bedrooms, pool and patio, at Apes Hill golf and polo resort. Savills 

New country club cottages are two-bedroom homes with verandas, based on traditional clapboard Bajan chattel houses.

These are off-plan, priced from £499,000 inclusive of golf membership.

Full furniture packages are £37,500 and you can add a pool for the same again.

‘PERFECT WEATHER AND A GREAT VIBE’

After 10 years of post-Christmas holidays in Barbados for its “perfect weather and friendly, fun people”, Simon and Jacqueline Gale, from Essex, decided the time was right to buy on the island.

They invested in a three-bedroom villa last year at the popular Royal Westmoreland golf resort.

“It’s fun and friendly”: Simon and wife Jacqueline bought a golf villa

“Royal Westmoreland is very close to Holetown on the West Coast, an area that has such a great vibe with fabulous restaurants, bars and entertainment which made it, for us, the only place to buy,” says Simon, 59, a retired businessman.

All of Barbados’s beaches are public, and favourite days out for the Gales include long coastal walks past Paynes Bay, Sandy Lane and Port St Charles, swimming with turtles and snorkelling in the clear waters.

Simon’s son, James, 27, is a frequent visitor, demonstrating the island’s multi-generational appeal.

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