It sounds like the ultimate daydream: a tropical island so secluded you feel like you have it all to yourself.

House prices are now so inflated it is cheaper to buy a luxury private island in the Caribbean than a bedsit in south west Hertfordshire.

New research has shown the money needed to get on the housing ladder in the capital could also buy one of two-thirds of the world’s private islands.

‘The Island Review’, published by global property consultancy Knight Frank, shows that 65 per cent of private islands currently for sale cost less than £340,000, while the average London home for first-time buyers now costs more than £364,000.

Watford Observer:

A one-bedroom bedsit in St Albans Road, Watford, can set buyers back £200,000. Image: Google street view.

So while potential buyers could splash out £290,000 on a 41sq meter bedsit in Watford, they could instead treat themselves to the 3/4 acre Isla Paloma – complete with a two-bedroom home - off the coast of Panama.

If this has got your imagination going, we’ve rounded up 20 gorgeous and exotic potential new homes listed on the website www.privateislandsonline.com that all cost less than the £472,000 you need to buy a house in south west Hertfordshire.

You might finding yourself packing bags, booking flights and saying adios to the concrete jungle after seeing these…