Boats

Narrowboats make great homes. They are more affordable than houses, but often big enough for families. Plus, when you want to go on holiday you don’t need to book flights and a hotel: you simply cast off and chug away. With around 2,200 miles of canals to cruise, the UK is a great country for would-be boat dwellers.

Boatshed lists houseboats, barges, wide beams and more – and that is excluding all the sea-going craft on its books – with more than 200 UK boats on sale at the time of writing. With prices ranging from £12,000 (sleeping two, with a shower, toilet and diesel engine) to £140,000 (including a London mooring at Little Venice) it is a cheaper option for anyone looking to buy a first home but finding the UK’s housing ladder too steep to climb.

While you’re at it, take a look at Apollo Duck where you will find all manner of interesting and unusual craft, like a 70ft ex-army tug (£29,500) and a former lifeboat (£74,995) now enjoying its retirement.

Woods and forests

Woodland is a precious and limited resource, so make sure you are buying it for the right reason. Woodlands specialises in selling small plots of wood that it has already spent time improving. So, you can expect easier access and clearly marked boundaries. If there are no public rights of way, it will even erect a barrier to show where your domain begins so you can enjoy its peace and tranquillity undisturbed. Every piece of land it sells has a covenant attached to make sure that all neighbours are well behaved, and you won’t have to put up with the roar of ‘non-forestry’ vehicles on the plot next door.

At the time of writing, you could snap up just under seven acres in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park for £55,000, or a 14-acre haven for fallow and muntjac deer, pheasants, woodcock, foxes, rabbits and even buzzards – with sporting rights included – for £195,000, within striking distance of the capital.

Woodlands has a huge choice of sites on offer, but if nothing takes your fancy also consider Woods4Sale and Forests.

Castles

Who wouldn’t want to be the lord or lady of the manor? And you can be: castles are cheaper than you might imagine. You could snap up White Castle, built by Sir John Talbot, viceroy of Ireland, on the banks of the river Barrow in 1417. It’s a snip at €450,000. Or, for an extra €50,000, how would you fancy a renovated stronghold in Castile, with 11m high walls, a dining hall that seats 24 and its own chapel and library.

You will find both of these, and more, at Castleist, which links to agents across Europe with spectacular fortresses on their books. Closer to home, £700,000 would get you a historic sea fort off the Hampshire coast with overtones of Fort Boyard. Built between 1865 and 1880 to repel the French, its four levels once housed 45 cannon and, although it has now lapsed, consent was granted for its conversion to 14 individual apartments. If that’s beyond your budget, check out Stack Rock Fort, off the Pembrokeshire coast, which should sell at auction for around £150,000.

Islands

If a sea fort doesn’t cut it, how about a real island? Vladi Private Islands currently has four islands for sale off the British coast. At ‘offers over £450,000’, Gigalum Island, a 19-acre Scottish retreat whose nearest neighbour is Paul McCartney, costs less than many city flats. Despite this, it hosts an unusual octagonal house with three en-suite bedrooms, and a jetty giving access to neighbouring Gigha, from which you can take the ferry to the Scottish mainland.

If you prefer to put your own stamp on a place, £250,000 will bag you an unnamed island to the west of Shetland. It comes with planning consent for a windmill and solar panels for power, and the renovation of a pair of derelict cottages.

Also consider Savills and Private Islands Inc, where prices start at $25,000, and stretch to $160m for the truly well-heeled.

Farms

Farms and land come in all shapes and sizes, from single fields without any amenities, to sprawling commercial operations with barns and houses on site. Prices at Farming UK start at just £30,000, which will buy you 4.4 acres in Chester, two acres in Northumberland or six acres in Devon. They are ripe for grazing, but you couldn’t live there without a tent. If you want a house on site, prices start at around £300,000 for a property ‘in need of substantial renovation’.

Farmers Weekly lists more than 200 farms at the time of writing, around the UK and beyond. As ever, if you are serious about finding the right farm for you, you will need to compromise on location: farms are unique, and it is possible the perfect combination of land and amenities – at the right price – is at the opposite end of the country.

Also consider UK Land and Farms, Knight Frank and Savills.