Dozens of tiny islands in a region of recreational lakes south of Amsterdam are due to come up for auction next month, the Volkskrant reported on Thursday.

The 44 islands – in reality strips of land left over after peat cutting – will be sold off to boat lovers who want to get away from it all on the Vinkeveense Plassen lakes. No price has yet been set, but ones that are currently privately owned fetch prices of between €10,000 and €50,000.

The sale has been prompted because the owners of the lakes –  Amsterdam, De Ronde Venen council and the province of Utrecht – are no longer willing willing to assume the cost of shoring up the islands which are slowly being eroded.

Prospective owners must take carry out repair work as part of the deal.

Erosion

‘We are having problems combating erosion. Every year bits of the islands are swallowed up by the water. The islands are part of the cultural history of Vinkeveen and by selling them we hope this unique landscape will still be here in 30 years’ time,’ De Ronde Venen alderman Anco Goldhoorn told the paper.

The islands only serve as a place to moor a boat and a spot to have a picnic and no building is allowed on the islands which are now up for sale. However, officials are looking into whether or not to allow more development of the islands.

‘People will never be able to build a bricks and mortar house but we have no way of telling if wooden huts will be tolerated in the future,’ Goldhoorn is quoted as saying.