England cricket caption Andrew Strauss has treated himself to a share of a property at a new development in St Lucia – you could say he deserves it after leading his team to victory over India this summer, making them the world’s number one cricket team.

Strauss has paid around £50,000 for a fraction of a two-bedroom villa at the five-star Freedom Bay resort, which is within the Unesco World Heritage Site of the Pitons on the west coast of the island. The development will also include a cricket academy fronted by Strauss.

St Lucia, which became a favourite holiday haunt of Amy Winehouse not long before she died, has emerged as a more affordable and less developed alternative to Barbados, with daily BA flights direct from Gatwick.

The St Lucian government is eager to attract more buyers to the island. An economic citizenship programme is expected to be introduced this year, which would give property investors full residency status if they invest around $350K or more. Some developments, including The Landings and Sugar Beach, already offer perks, such as 10-year exemptions from income tax.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Caribbean, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Caribbean Property Buying Guide’