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Well that's it, evicted from my life, I'm just another Arran Exile. I’m leaving the island tomorrow and I’m gutted. I haven’t been able to find affordable accommodation and my house is about to be rented out as a holiday let.

Long lets hardly ever come up and not at this time of year. A couple have come up since my eviction notice but I can’t afford the rents. A back house (shed) starts at £500 a month, for a wooden shed you can't swing a cat in. Normal size houses cost much more and there's only one available just now and it's more than I can afford, £1200 a month … My landlord can get £750 or more a week or my house as a holiday let. No wonder he wants me out. There is the odd house for sale starting at £150,000 + but I don't earn £50,000+ and never will so that's out. While over 40% of the houses on Arran are now holiday homes, houses that are bought for £350,000+ then only inhabited for a few weeks a year.

There are no council houses available for those made homeless on the island. You only get a council house if you are awarded enough points. Points are awarded for being on benefits, disability, dependants, overcrowding, mental health issues, addictions/dependency etc. I don't qualify for any. My friend only got one after being on the list for six years while living in a wooden hut with an outside loo and shower and the place was dripping with damp. She finally got enough points for over crowding, as she had to eat, sleep and cook on the same space. For some bizarre reason people do get housed here from the mainland but when I spoke to the council I was told in no uncertain terms if I declare myself homeless I will have to accept a house on the mainland despite my business being on the island.

The shop gives me a reasonable income but not enough to live on Arran anymore. I've exaughsted all the options. I have to move to the mainland. My family have been on this island since before the clearances. We survived that but not this. I'm the last of my generation to leave. So that's the end for us. Arran has turned into a retirement and holiday home for the very wealthy. It's not just me. At least two teachers are leaving the island because they can't afford the rent. There is a shortage of key workers in every sphere.

Who is to blame? The landlord? It’s a business, why shouldn’t he make as much as he can from his property. The Holiday homeowners who’ve pushed the prices up? There’s no law stopping people from buying property where they want. North Ayrshire Council? Without a doubt. They sold off most of the housing stock and have put in place such strict planning laws that land prices are kept at a premium. They will not allow building outside the village boundaries although there were houses and even other villages all over the island before the clearances. My own people were cleared off Machrie Moor. If they relaxed the planning so we could build in the clachans and allowed timber houses we could afford to build our own homes. Is this a radical new idea? Nope. We’ve been campaigning for this since Arran was transferred from Argyll and Bute to North Ayrshire years ago.

Please look at www.hifar.co.uk for the whole story. It’s not just me.

It’s a sad day. People have been coming into the shop all day to say goodbye. Over the last week I’ve moved my worldly goods to the mainland, handed back the keys to my house (I’ve been staying with a friend the last few days), resigned from various committees and put the shop up for sale. That’s the end to the only way of life I’ll ever want. The future is black and miserable and I don’t know how long I can keep biting back the tears. I’ve said goodbye to my friends, can’t stand the thought of breaking down at the ferry.

I love this island. It's in my blood. It breaks my heart to leave. The indigenous people are being priced off our island. This is the clearances all over again. This time we are being forced off our island to make way for rich tourists instead of sheep. As I say I’m by no means the only one.

If IBHQ will let me stick around I’ll keep blogging about my freeloading weekends. I may not be able to stay but Arran will always be home. Cheerybye!