1]. Unique Property For Sale.
2]. To Help Half Your Electricity Bills.
We aim to make this a win-win for our readers and shareholders. By selling off a decent chunk of our unique properties and building land, this gives those who would like to live somewhere interesting a chance to realise that dream.
Whilst the spare funds we release will help us build the first in nationwide series of not-for-profit eco-power stations. This should help you halve your electricity bills.
=> We include the BIG UNIQUE PROPERTY SALE endeavour, further down this page.
But first, a brief clarification of the Who? Why? What? How? & When?
The directors and shareholders here at Scotslion Ltd (formerly Argyll Group plc) are fortunate in having several decades of experience in newbuilding + construction. Specifically, we have access to the vital skillset required to build wind turbines and hydro-electric generator stations. For example, the main office for our Argyll Group plc (before we took the company private) was located in the harbour buildings in this next photograph…
^^ Our Original Offices Are On The Pier Here ^^
Notice The Wind Turbines
Being Loaded At The Ferry Pier
Photo Copyright Permission & Fee Paid. Attribution & Thanks To Iain Masterton & Alamy.
=> In 2022 an 2023, our MD has been in touch with his colleagues to discuss the logistics of building community-owned power generation stations. The reply was yes and a lot of enthusiasm for the idea too..
=> We are confident there are sufficient funds and crucially the skillset to build ecological, community owned power stations.
Source: Click Here
There must surely be a better way in the UK where energy is produced from a ecologicl sources in abundance.
We reckon that by reigning-in the industrial over-charging of electricity by corporate greed (instant price rises, but painfully slow price reductions when oil prices go up and down), we all stand a chance of reducing the “heat or eat” problem. The distress is actually worse than just “heat or eat”.
=> In the UK, over 400 people take their lives each year through debt-suicide and unnecessarily high energy prices are a component of that terrible situation.
We know this is factually correct because we have worked to reduce the number of these tragedies before (click here).
=> Our aim is to prove that community-based electricity generation literally bring the power of energy prices to local communities.
By selling off surplus property from our unique buildings and land portfolio, that gives us sufficient funds to test this theory.
Each community generator station will supply electricity for 50 to 500 houses. If the calculations prove correct, this will be at a 50% discount to current fuel costs, we are selling off some of our spare buildings. This is to help pay to build the first of many new community-eco-power-stations. A cardinal rule is none of our buildings have any mortgages, so it is likely we will only need to sell a few of them to help get electricity prices back down to where they used to be.
Here are some of our surplus properties for sale. The first relates to a charity that wishes to buy a large part of major radar station (with some spare bits you might like too) The rest are as unique as we can make them having been doing this since 1987.
Hopefully our sale of surplus property contains something that suit your tastes…
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Half is Better Than Nothing!
RAF Balado
The Visitor Centre Endeavour
Here is a proposed solution for buyers who have been trying to purchase this former RAF base for the past 4 years. They are a registered charity who wish to open and Air & Space Museum with the satellite Radome (big golf ball) at the core; so are special buyers with whom we share a lot of heart and are keen for them to succeed. We have a “Plan B” to help them.
^^ The Former RAF Balado Site ^
^^ Balado Bridge, Balado, Kinross, KY13 0NJ. ^^
This proposed sale to the Aero Space charity of approximately half the former RAF site will help preserve the charity’s efforts, rather than our just selling the whole site to an American bank for an EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) protected computer data centre.
=> This “Plan B” effort will also help some of our readers enjoy the strictly limited, bespoke unique properties being proposed for the rest of the site.
We will be ADDING extra bits for sale at this former RAF Balado military base onto this page during May 2023. For example…
^^ Subterranean Building Plot ^^
For Sale At The Former RAF Balado Site
=> Many of our Unique Property Bulletin readers are actively seeking a bit of extra protection “up north” and “underground” (here) during the current horrors emanating out of Russia.
You can receive updates by adding your email address into the annoying pop-up news-alert box! Or more simply, just Google the word “Scotslion” and return yourself to check out updates to this page.
For now, we add the proposed solution to the hard-working charity’s effort to buy the iconic Radome at Balado and sufficient BROWNFIELD building land to construct a bespoke Aero Space Visitor Centre…
RAF Balado Visitor Centre Proposal
Click Here
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Next…
Unique Property Sales
The proposed “Plan B” assistance to the Aero Space Kinross charity leaves several plots on the site that we propose selling separately and on an individual basis. The following details contains DRAFT plans based on the HM Land Registry/Registers of Scotland Title Deeds for the main Balado Radome site…
For Sale
Building Plot: £67,000
Located on the former RAF Balado site…
^^ Pole House Candidate For Building Plot Number 17 ^^
One of the first building sites we are listing for our RAF Balado location is what architects often call “challenging”. This has a slope and a small river. Often the most awesome work from the imagination of an architect and their client comes from thinking how to solve designing a new home for a “challenging” building plot.
^^ An Imaginative Way To Cure ^^
^^ Flood Risk & Slope Problems ^^
Here is the example of what would work very well at Balado. This building really does exist. So much so that it wore out and was rebuilt…
^^ Rebuild Phase 1 ^^
The Fairhaven Pole House
This example of a real life “Pole House” has been built in Australia. The precarious looking “pole” part of this structure has lasted so well that the actual home built atop has been completely renovated. Here is part of the demolition and newbuild process (only the house needed a refurbishment)…
^^ Rebuild Phase 2 ^^
The Fairhaven Pole House, Australia.
When studying the actual “challenging” location, this “pole house” design solution jumped up as one of the best ways to construct a truly unique home by the Queich Burn (small river)…
^^ Building Plots 17 ^^
Subject to planning permission.
Guided at….
£67,000.
…for the building plot.
Click Here
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Next unique property for sale….
^^ Lighthouse Engine House: To The Right of The Tower ^^
For Sale ~ Guide:
£149,000
Rightmove Details: Click Here
^^ Our Own Website Details:
Click Here
^^ Planning & Building Warrant Details: Click Here ^^
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Next…
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For Sale
Hotel Room Ownership From £39,000
Link to sale details at end of this segment.
^^ Here’s One We Prepared Earlier ^^
The location of this renovated hotel is on the statistically most popular island on the west coast of Scotland. Source: CalMac Ferries carrying statistics…
Source: Click Here
The island of Arran is much sought after as a holiday and also for a permanent (residential) destination. The next photograph of the our hotel and the sandy beach says more than we can put into words about the beauty of the location…
^^ Sannox Hotel: Centre of The Photograph ^^
Turquoise sea in front.
Salmon & sea trout in the river from Glen Sannox to the right.
Along with the beautiful Sannox Bay Beach.
Plus mountains behind that are very popular with the climbing fraternity. A main exit to these is down Glen Sannox and that leads out to few yards north of the hotel. So a lot of tired mountaineers seek the hospitality of a nice, warm (and well insulated) hotel. Ours is the first and only hotel for miles.
We are in the final stages of a major renovation and aim for a “soft opening” during the course of 2023. The Sannox Hotel is NOT for sale. Even though we have received offers from mainland folk wanting to turn it into a luxury house or several private holiday-home flats.
^^ Sannox Hotel, Island of Arran ^^
We are determined to retain this property as a hotel amenity (plus new village shop) and cafe/restaurant, not lose it to a conversion into residential flats as so many other hotels have succumbed to.
=> In this rare case we have three of the bedrooms that are effectively for sale. Normally these would be bought and sold within our own shareholder base. But there is a good community spirit on the island of Arran; so we are making these three ensuite bedrooms available to local folk as well as our own shareholder base.
=> All of the bedrooms are fully renovated and all include their own ensuite (private ) guest bathrooms…
^^ Sannox Hotel: Bedroom 2 ^^
^^ Ensuite Facilities & WC ^^
All of the major structural work on Sannox Hotel, such as roofing + insulation + rewire + replumbing + new fire systems are 90% completed in line with Planning Permission and Building Warrants (here).
This next photograph is of Bedroom 2 at Sannox Hotel as at 26th January 2023. Obviously still looking a bit bland, but it has (as will be revealed) taken a mammoth amount of work to overhaul the structural issues such as overhaul and/or new roofs. In fact the whole hotel has been fully renovated.
Now the hotel is tantalisingly close to completion…
^^ Sannox Hotel: Bedroom 2 ^^
Not yet completed, but pretty close to the finish line.
The views from the premier bedrooms are none too shabby either…
^^ Views From Sannox Hotel Front Bedrooms 1 & 2 ^^
Astute readers will observe the brand new double glazing!
Underlay and carpets fitted. Furniture being installed.
All rooms will be fully carpeted and furnished to the standard in this next photograph. It is a style and quakity as per one of the earlier hotel projects we have managed (this one up at one of our lighthouse stations)…
^^ Lighthouse Residential Education Hotel Facilities ^^
Please note, this is an example of the finished item.
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Two main rules to note from the start:-
A]. The hotel will never have a mortgage on it. So the property is 100% owned by the shareholders. There will always be a solid asset, fully insured and well maintained behind the ownership of shares.
B]. To balance the hotel viability (and make sure your income from rental stays healthy), our rule is that each guest bedroom must be available to accommodate paying-guests 12 out of each 13 week period. The main part of this rental will accrue to you (less statutory and housekeeping + insurance costs.
If the room is empty for more that one week in 12 at any point through this natural cycle, owners are welcome to come and stay. This approach helps ensure the viability of the hotel as a hotel and also protects our shareholders’ income-streams and penultimate exit-routes.
It is worth noting that as well as very busy tourism summers (often boosted by post-covid staycations) the Island of Arran benefits from many university geology departments sending their students to the island on the “shoulder” seasons (early-Spring and late-Autumn). This means hotel bookings are higher and longer on Arran than for other places as the Spring and Autumn parts of the season have a significant higher occupancy level due to this cornucopia of geological specimens…
So much so, that there are extra curricular events to assist the demand from university geology department form all over Britain, that send their student for 2 week placements to the Island of Arran.
^^ Isle of Arran Is Rich In Geological Specimens ^^
This attracts many geology students
to visit and stay on the island.
The owner of this website can attest to this as he grew up on the island of Arran at the nearby Blackrock House Hotel in Corrie (next to Sannox) and still has many friendships with geologists that began in the 1970s and have lasted 50 years!
^^ Sannox Bay Hotel ^^
If you would like to ask questions or arrange a viewing of Sannox Hotel, please feel free to…
TEXT or telephone one of our team on…
UK: 0757 2768 795
Further Details…
Click Here
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Next…
IMPORTANT
Please note: This page would normally be fully completed before we upload it.
However, we are placing the OUTLINE content of this page ONLINE without delay. Partly to give our readers plenty of advance notice of interesting buildings we have for sale. This gives folk more time to sort out their due diligence and ask the various questions that come with buying a new property.
Also due to the cost-of-living-crisis and fact that the BBC report 81% of the adult population in the UK are worried about money and rising prices (source: here), we are increasing the speed with which we give our readers the “heads-up” about spare buildings that we are selling.
=> Why?
Because we have a cure that will help ease the worry and any delay may actually cost lives (here).
Initially, we were going to open several money advice branches and reactivate our debt-counselling charity (here).
=> But as the respected money advisor, Martin Lewis revealed, he (and we) are running out of tools to help folk who encounter financial dire-straits.
A far more effective solution came to our minds.
=> Build our own eco-power stations. This is likely to HALVE the cost of electricity from where it currently stands as at Springtime 2023.
By removing very expensive companies such as SSE who pay their CEO an obscene £4,485,000 last year for failing! Worse, Shell made £32 billion from mainstream misery of millions who struggle to put fuel in their cars as they go to work in the local hospital or fire station or school.
=> So we are going “live” with this HEADLINE page and our FOR SALE list, at the during May/June 2023 rather than delay until this page is perfect. Better to let our readers have a good heads-up and lead-in period to get their financial ducks in a row if they fancy buying any of these surplus buildings and land.
You might like to pop a contact email (or text an email: here) so we can let you know each time we complete a full set of details to the summary outlines of wat we list FOR SALE on this page.
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Next…
For Sale
Hotel Room Ownership From £39,000 to £69,000
Full details will be uploaded here
during May 2023.
Click Here
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Next…
For Sale
Hotel Room Ownership From £39,000
Full details will be uploaded here
during May 2023.
Click Here
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Next...
For Sale
Guide: £99,000.
Candidates for the former RAF Balado sites…
^^ Candidate For Balado Building Plot Site ^^
^^ Would fit in at Plot 1, Plot 2 or Plot 7 ^^
Full details will be uploaded here
during May 2023.
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Next…
For Sale
Guide: £99,000.
Candidates for the former RAF Balado sites…
^^ Candidate For Balado Building Plot Site ^^
^^ Would fit in at Plot 3 ^^
Full details will be uploaded here
during May 2023.
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Next…
For Sale
Candidates for the former RAF Balado sites…
^^ Building Plot For The Play Well Design ^^
Would fit into Plot #14 Very Neatly.
Full details of this building plot
will be uploaded here
during May2023.
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Next…
For Sale
Building Land Guided At £99,000
^^ Candidate House Design Suggestion ^^
^^ Building Plot 2 ^^
Guided at…
£99,000.
Click Here
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Next…
For Sale
The Whole Site
At £950,000 Plus VAT
^^ What is an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) ^^
Details: Click Here
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Next…
For Sale
^^ Rightmove Website Details: Click Here ^^
^^ Our Own Website Details: Click Here ^^
Please note, this site for sale will be subject to the buyer obtaining the comfort of a positive “pre-planning” enquiry.”
For guidance: click here and here.
Next…
For Sale
^^ Triangle Shaped Hotel ^^
^^ Ideal For Plots 2 & 3 Combined ^^
Please note, this site for sale will be subject to the buyer obtaining the comfort of a positive “pre-planning” enquiry.” For guidance: click here and here.
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Next…
Investment Properties
Producing Significantly More Than The Banks
Each is asset-backed and none has a mortgage. So the income you receive is as secure as can be with thses types of property.
They are also part of our HIGH STREET REGENERATION INITIATIVE which we started in 1997. So you will be helping keep a 25 years tradition of creating jobs alive.
Especially as the first is a Business Centre, managed for you and helps folk get started in business (though one of the current tenants is a firm of solicitors, so we do get established companies in thee buildings as well).
Typical returns are 7.5% to 12.5%.
Averages are around 9% net per annum.
Plus the building capital-value uplift.
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For Sale
Business Centre
Let on a 5 Year FRI Lease
For the past 25 years, Argyll Group (and Scotslion) have specialised in buying + renovating + supporting newstart businesses bring High Streets back to life.
Here is our most recent project, the Abbey Studios Business Centre completed from a near-derelict shell, to state-of-the-art offices…
Rightmove Website Details…
Click Here
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Next…
For Sale
^^ Rightmove Website Details: Click Here ^^
^^ Our Own Website Details: Click Here ^^
Please note, this site for sale will be subject to the buyer obtaining the comfort of a positive “pre-planning” enquiry.” For guidance: click here and here.
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Next…
For Sale
^^ Rightmove Website Details: Click Here ^^
^^ Our Own Website Details: Click Here ^^
Please note, this site for sale will be subject to the buyer obtaining the comfort of a positive “pre-planning” enquiry.” For guidance: click here and here.
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Next…
Eco Generation of Affordable Electricity
Who? What? How? Where? & When?
This segment will be expanded during the month of May 2023. This is because, some of our projects will be owned by limited companies or plc organisations.
Some eco-power-stations will be owned by registered charities or mutual entities (like the Co-op but these will generate electricity rather than sell pies and bananas).
=> Because of the nature of these projects, there must be full transparency and disclosure.
Hence this segment on Who? What? How? Where? & When?
For this initial page upload we will start the ball rolling by a relatively empirical statement covering some of the “What?”
This segment will require a vast amount of detail.
=> Fortunately we have lots of experts from the actual industries that manufacture wind-turbines + solar-farms + hydro-electric generators + tidal-energy generation.
This segment will be a major part of what we do in 2023 and beyond.
But first we need to sell some of our spare buildings to pay for these projects.
=> We ban bank borrowing. Getting projects to work and work well are a LOT easier if you can extract the bank from getting their paws on obscenely high interest rate charges + fees etc (10%+), when the banking misers pay a ridiculously low 1.01% on savings..
The ban on borrowing (and making our project 100% shareholder owned, originally because a friend took his own life. But after we settled on the remedy for that, it just became easier to dump the banks and NOT borrow any mortgages or money.
Ironically we started buying old bank buildings as part of the High Street Regeneration initiative. Maybe we will cover that too.
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What?
Not everyone favours wind-turbine generated electricity. Which is why we aim to include solar-farms + hydro-electric (fresh water) power generation such as the lochs and dams that were built way ahead of their time and have quietly been generating clean electricity for decades. We wil also be building sea-water power generation systems. Akin to this one at the port where one of our directors served in the harbourmasters office…
Bright Yellow Evopod
Floating Tethered Turbine Test Device
Copyright Permission & Fee Paid. Attribution & Thanks To William Arthur & Alamy.
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Who?
It is probably a good idea to introduce some of the company officers at this point whilst we are on the “Who?” segment. The first is David Rutherford. Main job has been a full-time firefighter at Highlands & Islands Airport for 10 years, with a second job driving the fire appliance with a different fire brigade as a retained firefighter…
^^ David Rutherford ^^
Director At Scotslion Ltd & Related Companies.
Retained firefighter service has come to a mutually agreeable end. If anything can emphasise how important the AFFORDABLE ELETRICITY GENERATION project is, it is the fact that David has left one of his beloved firefighter jobs to devote more time to the work at what is likely to be our third charity.
How David manages to fit all that in plus family life and currently SEVEN ongoing projects with is beyond those of us that are getting on in years. David volunteers as director. He volunteers at the charities he is part of. Thankyou David, from the Argyll Group and Unique Property Bulletin Team.
Next…
Russ McLean is also a director of the various limited companies within which we ring-fence each building project.
^^ Russ McLean ^^
Director At Scotslion Ltd & Related Companies.
The last element for this page, and possibly the most STARTLING for us, because this sort of thing does NOT generally happen to ordinary people like our crew at Argyll Group and Scotslion.
The next segment has some detail of the two charities we gave birth to. These are included to illustrate experience and reasonable competence in that field of endeavour.
Also, Russ McLean is looking a bit “pudgy” in the middle. One of our copy-edit and proof-readers did ask if Russ might be pregnant with the third charity?
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Charity Credentials
Can You Establish & Manage The Required Charity?
YES!
Charity Number 1
Creditcare Money Advice Charity
Here is the first charity that those who have read this far will be becoming familiar with…
As well as registering our Creditcare Money Advice Charity in 1996 (here), the owner of this website and managing director of Argyll Group registered a second charity in 2012…
Charity Number 2
Friends of TS Queen Mary Charity
It is important to note that the Friends of TS Queen Mary charity is now managed by the co-founder, Mr Iain Sim. Russ McLean had become disabled following spinal surgery. Please don’t mention this as he is none too keen on being see in the light of pity. Quite the opposite, we are able to mention this occasionally as at least three of our Argyll group shareholders have a disability and it is the hope at this end of the project, folk will begin into see that being disabled is can be overcome.
For the purposes of the eco-electricity power generation project, it is important to make full disclosure. Hence mentioning the spinal surgery.
^^ Founding Trustees ^^
^^ Russ McLean (middle) and Iain Sim (right) ^^
Fortunately, Russ has recovered sufficiently and whilst Iain always extends the grace of inviting Russ back to the trustees at the Friends of TS Queen Mary project, the limitations that managing spinal conditions bring about, mean it would dilute the workload and be less than the best help to the Friends of TS Queen Mary charity. This is very tempting when the progress of this charity is seen…
^^ TS Queen Mary Restoration Progress ^^
Indeed, Russ is looking to persuade Iain to join with the likely eco-energy project’s charity arm.
So far, Iain has had to decline. We recently lost one of our patrons, Robbie Coltrane…
Conveniently, Russ McLean lives close to the OSCR offices (Office of the Scottish Charity Commissioner). So, it is becoming a well work path between his house and office to the northern office of the Charity Commissioners.
Once the charity for TS Queen Mary had been registered, it was still a struggle to raise a funds.
At this point, we were very fortunate in having Robbie Coltrane join the charity as Patron. Fundraising was given a handsome boost…
^^ Robbie Coltrane ^^
Patron of the TS Queen Mary Charity
Robbie helped raise huge amounts of money for the Friends of TS Queen Mary Charity.
The friends of TS Queen Mary charity has been incredibly lucky as it benefitted from having two patrons.
This patronage cannot be over-emphasised. Robbie alone was raising £12 to £24 a time through “Cameo” video birthday messages and other video personalised content (generally here). The amount raised have been awesome. In excess of £50,000 a year which, given the disabling pain Robbie had been suffering, was a remarkable contribution.
With great comfort, the relationship has been a two way street. Robbie’s declining health meant he was unable to work on his beloved classic cars. It was distressing seein each beloved car go for sale as the maintenance was beyond this kind man.
But when the patronage of TS Queen Mary came up, a sparkle was reignited in Robbie’s eye. This was wonderful thing to see. Robbie really got stuck into the engineering and plans as well as the fundraising.
Without funds, the ship would never have made it from our original rescue attempts when it was at risk of being scrapped in 2012. lease take a moment to study these numbers. This is pivotal to making a philanthropic wish into a decent reality…
^^ Friends of TS Queen Mary Charity Accounts ^^
Source: Click Here
It would, of course, be the height of bad manners not to mention HRH Princess Anne. These were very happy days as Robbie and the Trustees had yearned for the ability (and funds to transform the TS Queen Mary from just a static educational exhibit, to a fully functional and maritime legislation/port of registry compliant sailing vessel.
^^ Princess Anne Aboard TS Queen Mary ^^
Poto Attribution Thanks To Martin Shields
This photograph is one of Russ McLean’s favourites.
=> It pictures charity co-founder and current Chairman, Mr Iain Sim showing our charity patron, HRH Princess Anne around the ship.
Iain has worked very hard over 11 years to get the charity to the current healthy place.
In fact Iain has worked a near-miracle.
=> Many folk assumed the TS Queen Mary would always be a s “static exhibit”. A quayside museum. Good, but not quite back to the days tat so many fold associated with supporting this effort yearn to see.
Iain and the trustees, plus a considerable number of other helpers, along with hard work fundraising, always wanted to see TS Queen Mary completing the job she was built for:-
=> Rebuilt to the point where the ship would get its engines back and the rebuild would be up to statutory standard so that the ship could ail with a full complement of passengers again,
The Princess Royal made the announcement that the ship would sail gain under its own steam during a special visit…
^^ Princess Anne Announces Very Good News ^^
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Please check back regularly for updates.
Alternatively, you can TEXT us on: 0757 2768 795 with a note of your email address and the property you are interested in. We will then make best efforts to keep you updated.
Many thanks and best wishes,
The Argyll Group & Scotslion Team.
