DSR Asset Management Overseas Property Investments

Tree Houses in Koro : Living off the Grid within Nature’s Bounty

On May 6, 1789, after the Mutiny, Cap­tain Bligh man­aged to find the time to observe “the island of Koro is of good height… Noth­ing can exceed its beauty. I place it in 17° 11“S.” His first impres­sions were cor­rect – it does indeed lie at 17° 11“S and it is exceed­ingly beautiful.

Koro is a dor­mant vol­canic Island cov­ered in lush trop­i­cal for­est and sur­rounded by coves and beaches. Though eas­ily acces­si­ble by weekly flight from main­land Fiji, or via var­i­ous nau­ti­cal routes, it is still largely undeveloped.

In Fiji 9% of island land is ear­marked for free­hold for­eign own­er­ship, afford­ing early bird West­ern­ers a chance to buy a slice of Par­adise at emerg­ing mar­ket prices. Later as infra­struc­ture fol­lows the inevitable flow of enlight­ened émigrés seek­ing the trop­i­cal good life, prices will be marked up markedly.

There are builders in Fiji and Koro who can work to your spec­i­fi­ca­tions, but there are a num­ber of things you need to be aware of first. Con­crete just does not jibe here on Koro – plus it is an uneco­nomic build­ing mate­r­ial to ship in. Instead the island’s own resources are employed, giv­ing all build­ings a cohe­sive look and ver­nac­u­lar charm. Houses are built from trop­i­cal hard­wood on ele­vated poles dri­ven into the for­est floor to allow for air cir­cu­la­tion. Designs that work have per­haps as much cov­ered veran­dah as enclosed area, and walls are vented to keep the rooms aired and com­fort­able. It’s the ‘House Style’ – tried and tested in the field.

If you plan to live or hol­i­day here, it is best to be pre­pared to ‘go with the flow’ in Koro

There are no grids. Water comes directly from the roof, or clear springs and streams. Gen­er­a­tors are frowned on, since they emit noise and other pol­lu­tion, and solar pan­els – elec­tric and direct water — plus deep-storage bat­ter­ies are used to pro­vide light, and power for appli­ances. Gas bot­tles are imported by boat, as must be any fancy food you want for cook­ing. For­tu­nately the inter­net and tele­coms have come to Koro, and you can order sup­plies to be sent from main­land del­i­catessen supermarkets.

Activ­i­ties on Koro include sun­bathing on white sand beaches, swim­ming and div­ing, and fish­ing and sail­ing on crys­tal clear water. (The end of the Great Bar­rier Reef extends to Fiji pro­tect­ing it from poten­tial Tsunamis and pro­vid­ing a haven for a huge range of trop­i­cal fish.)

A grav­elled road runs around the island, along the coast, pass­ing through 14 main vil­lages. Being part of a for­mer British Colony the legal sys­tem is sim­i­lar to ours, and the locals are used to English-speaking for­eign­ers, see­ing as their clos­est major neigh­bours are Aus­tralia and New Zealand.

David Red­fern of DSR Asset Man­age­ment Ltd said this about Koro :

“Koro has the poten­tial to become one of the most unique des­ti­na­tions in the Pacific, com­bin­ing unri­valled nat­ural beauty with sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and low-impact tourism… We can offer a range of plots in dif­fer­ent loca­tions from as low as £16,000… we can also help to guide you when it comes to build­ing your own ideal home if you chose to do so.”

About DSR Asset Man­age­ment Ltd

DSR Asset Man­age­ment Ltd is an over­seas prop­erty invest­ment spe­cial­ist, work­ing directly with devel­op­ers in more than forty coun­tries. All prop­er­ties are exclu­sive to DSR, giv­ing an unpar­al­leled selec­tion of resale and new builds.

Please direct all media queries, requests for press infor­ma­tion and edi­to­r­ial details, to media@davidstanleyredfern.com