WITH the news that swathes of Dorset are set to become "pensioner pockets" as young families find themselves priced out of the areas they grew up in, would-be homeowners are likely to look elsewhere.

And they'll be glad to know there are still some places where their money will stretch a bit further.

The average flat in Bournemouth sells for approximately £176,000.

On website privateislandsonline.com, savvy shoppers can buy any one of 35 private paradises for less.

For example, those looking to pay out £161,728 could invest in the partially-developed Usher's Island off Panama, a 2.25 acre Caribbean spit with three docks.

Bournemouth Echo:

For £69,016, buyers can invest in 11.6-acre Big Tancook Island off Nova Scotia in Canada.

The unspoiled island is home to around 125 year-round residents.

 

Bournemouth Echo:

In Bournemouth, the same amount of money - plus an additional £984 - will secure investors a one-bed retirement park home at Iford Bridge.

Families looking to move on from their flat into a semi-detached home in Bournemouth face an average bill of £234,139, according to website Zoopla.

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For £7,990 less, they could relocate to the developed Quiana Island in Alaska, which features cabins, a deep water dock, a sauna building, shops and docks, as well as opportunities to spot whales and sea otters and fish for salmon and halibut.

Finally, a detached property in affluent Bournemouth averages out at £349,868.

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For almost exactly the same amount of money, the whole family could move to Crossover Island, New York, which houses a three-bed lighthouse complete with its own smokehouse, icehouse and boathouse.

Or for £339,628, they might decide to choose Ambergris Cay instead.

The beautiful island features the largest private jet runway in the Caribbean, as well as 'state of the art infrastructure'.

On Monday, National Housing Federation bosses warned that in a list of England's top "pensioner pockets" - where more than 40 per cent of households will contain people aged over 65 in six years' time, compared with the predicted national average of 29 per cent - Christchurch comes third, with East and West Dorset, Purbeck and the New Forest also featuring.

The NHF, which said the findings are evidence of a "chronic housing crisis in rural England," said the analysis was based on figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

The Federation said that a lack of affordable housing in rural areas will put pressure on small businesses which will struggle to find local workers, as well as schools in places where families have had to move away and health and support services needed to care for ageing communities.