Locals now face the hurdle of finding £4.2m to secure the sale

It’s a cliché but the residents of the tiny Hebridean community of Ulva don't care: David has beaten Goliath and now locals have the green light to buy their island.

Roseanna Cunningham, the Scottish environment secretary, confirmed that the North West Mull Community Woodland Company (NWMCWC) can bid to buy Ulva, which sits off the west coast of Mull.

Jamie Howard, who inherited the island from his mother, put it up for sale for offers over £4.25 million and is retaining a house on the island, which is not included in the sale.

Locals pitched their bid around the fact that it had suffered decades of depopulation and unsuccessful attempts at regeneration by its current owner.

John Addy, a director of NWMCWC, said: “We are obviously delighted at this news which sets Ulva on a path of social and economic rejuvenation including repopulation.”

The bid contains ambitious plans to regenerate the area as well as repopulate the island though a series of initiatives.

It now faces the significant hurdle of finding £4.2m in four months – the allotted statutory timeframe granted under land reform legislation.

NWMCWC can apply for funding from the Scottish Land Fund, which has £10m a year to spend from the national lottery on community buyouts, but its single grants are normally limited to £1m per bid.

The battle to raise the cash is just the latest hurdle campaigners have faced. Mull’s community council said last month it objected to the proposal, arguing that the money could be better spent on other projects and that all the islanders ought to have been consulted.

In an independent ballot of 401 voters in north-west Mull, 163 supported the Ulva bid and 91 opposed it, according to the NWMCWC.

Only six people currently live on Ulva — down from more than 600 in the 19th century — but supporters say the proposed buyout could revitalise the island and support community development on Mull.