Is living on a boat better than living in a house?
Anyone attempting to enter the property market at present may notice that it is not all plain sailing. Trying to obtain a mortgage today can be likened to extracting Excalibur from the stone! If you are lucky enough to find a lender that will actually lend you funds, the deposit required is sky high! There are many who are looking for alternatives, boat living is just one of them.
Sick of trying unsuccessfully to get a foot onto the property ladder, my sister decided she had to do something and so moved onto our dad's boat.
It is not a luxury boat by any means!
It is a Dutch barge that Dad bought and renovated after he retired.
This 55ft x 10ft boat is a wide beam canal cruiser known as 'Burwash'. It has a double bedroom and an adjacent wet room.
It has been fitted by my dad with a lovely kitchen, bought from a certain Swedish store. The interior may be rather small, but I like to think of it as bijou.
She is a good-looking vessel from the outside and has recently been painted red and green. Back in 1998 Dad bought the boat for 50,000, a reasonable price for a home.
A 'calorifer' supplies the hot water and runs on electricity or gas. The toilet works from a large holding tank by a simple drop down method and requires no electricity and a small amount of water.
The inside is heated with a small wood burner and is very effective during the winter months. It is of course a very different matter enjoying a trip up and down the river during summer to that of a cold winter's day!
My sister has managed to secure moorings locally at a cost of 4,000 per year; this is inclusive of water costs. Her council tax is charged at the lowest rate (band A), her insurance comes to approximately 500 per year and the boat license is 550 per year.
There are obviously other running costs, but according to my sister they are relatively low.
The marina she stays in is well kept and the community there are very friendly. A lot of the residents live there full time. Thankfully, my sister has made some good friends who have been a great help as she settles in to her new way of life. The moorings have plenty of facilities including a laundry room, clean toilets and showers.
My sister's workplace is only one mile from the barge so it's easy for her to cycle there and back home again. Having had an alarm installed on the boat, she is now well protected, though there is always a friendly neighbour popping in to check everything is okay. I have just returned from spending the weekend on the barge and was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable and relaxing it was.
Being December I had worn my thermals, after half an hour I had to change into something cooler!! The wood burner gave off more than enough heat, add to this the gentle sway of the water plus a rather large glass of wine, I felt more than a little sleepy!
There was much more room than I had imagined, in fact about the same as my one bedroom flat in inner London.
Whether or not living on a boat is better than living in a house is perhaps a matter of opinion. Both have positives and negatives. It should be said though; my sister is discovering that it is a lot easier than one might first think. She doesn't have the same challenges as I do living in the centre of London. My view is always the same, I don't speak to my neighbours, it's nearly impossible to find a parking space, and to top it all off, my bills are going through the roof. When I look at it that way, I am a little jealous of my sister's new life!
Anyone attempting to enter the property market at present may notice that it is not all plain sailing. Trying to obtain a mortgage today can be likened to extracting Excalibur from the stone! If you are lucky enough to find a lender that will actually lend you funds, the deposit required is sky high! There are many who are looking for alternatives, boat living is just one of them.
Sick of trying unsuccessfully to get a foot onto the property ladder, my sister decided she had to do something and so moved onto our dad's boat.
It is not a luxury boat by any means!
It is a Dutch barge that Dad bought and renovated after he retired.
This 55ft x 10ft boat is a wide beam canal cruiser known as 'Burwash'. It has a double bedroom and an adjacent wet room.
It has been fitted by my dad with a lovely kitchen, bought from a certain Swedish store. The interior may be rather small, but I like to think of it as bijou.
She is a good-looking vessel from the outside and has recently been painted red and green. Back in 1998 Dad bought the boat for 50,000, a reasonable price for a home.
A 'calorifer' supplies the hot water and runs on electricity or gas. The toilet works from a large holding tank by a simple drop down method and requires no electricity and a small amount of water.
The inside is heated with a small wood burner and is very effective during the winter months. It is of course a very different matter enjoying a trip up and down the river during summer to that of a cold winter's day!
My sister has managed to secure moorings locally at a cost of 4,000 per year; this is inclusive of water costs. Her council tax is charged at the lowest rate (band A), her insurance comes to approximately 500 per year and the boat license is 550 per year.
There are obviously other running costs, but according to my sister they are relatively low.
The marina she stays in is well kept and the community there are very friendly. A lot of the residents live there full time. Thankfully, my sister has made some good friends who have been a great help as she settles in to her new way of life. The moorings have plenty of facilities including a laundry room, clean toilets and showers.
My sister's workplace is only one mile from the barge so it's easy for her to cycle there and back home again. Having had an alarm installed on the boat, she is now well protected, though there is always a friendly neighbour popping in to check everything is okay. I have just returned from spending the weekend on the barge and was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable and relaxing it was.
Being December I had worn my thermals, after half an hour I had to change into something cooler!! The wood burner gave off more than enough heat, add to this the gentle sway of the water plus a rather large glass of wine, I felt more than a little sleepy!
There was much more room than I had imagined, in fact about the same as my one bedroom flat in inner London.
Whether or not living on a boat is better than living in a house is perhaps a matter of opinion. Both have positives and negatives. It should be said though; my sister is discovering that it is a lot easier than one might first think. She doesn't have the same challenges as I do living in the centre of London. My view is always the same, I don't speak to my neighbours, it's nearly impossible to find a parking space, and to top it all off, my bills are going through the roof. When I look at it that way, I am a little jealous of my sister's new life!
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