Costs
Living on a boat is cheaper than living in a flat. Well it definitely is in our area. A studio flat will set you back at least £85,000.
All the costings below are for a steel narrowboat. I don’t know much about other types of boat!
Don’t buy a new boat unless you’re a flash git. Just like a car, they depreciate massively over the first few years then hold their value if a) they’re from a respected builder and b) they’re kept in good condition. A decent steel narrowboat or barge should last longer than you do, so why buy a new one? If you bought a tatty second hand boat and painted it you could sell it at a profit no problem.
Mooring fees (see also Mooring)
Mooring fees in the London area are high. My mooring fees are the same as my boat repayments. You must consider this in your long term plans. But property values in SW London are high, hence the land you’re moored to has high value, hence you pay more. In rural areas outside SE England, living on a boat becomes a very cheap option.
If you’re prepared to move around a lot then you could get away with no mooring. You should consider this carefully but I know a number of people, including families, who are very happy with this lifestyle.
Raising the cash for a boat can be a problem. You can’t get a ‘real’ mortgage on a boat, and the limited ones that are on offer charge much higher interest than house mortgages. You with be asked for a 20% deposit minimum.
The best way I can see is to use someones house mortgage to cover your boat. Get a friend or family to raise the money by telling their lender that they’re building an extension. No lender gives a damn whether they actually build the extension or not. Then arrange to pay back the sum at a calculated quantity per month. Life insurance and income insurance guarantees that you can’t default on the payments so your friend/relative is covered. No deposit, choose how long you repay over, normal interest rates.
So how much does the boat cost? Well it varies but you could get a 40ft narrowboat (about the right size for one person to live on) for as little as £15,000. If you are prepared to gamble the survey money then you can start viewing much older (and cheaper) boats, many of which are in perfect condition. I got Havana (47ft, built 1995, immaculate condition) for £22,000. 47 ft is just big enough for a couple to live aboard.
A survey will cost around £300/400, part is for the surveyor, part is for the crane that lifts the boat out for inspection. Whatever a boat owner tells you, you must get this done. The hull is the most important part of the boat and if it’s dented or badly corroded it will make your life an expensive nightmare. On the other hand a survey can highlight superficial problems that give you more ammunition to lower the asking price.
This is the marine equivalent of a car MOT. It has to be done every 4 years or you will be refused a river/canal license. Don’t buy a boat without one unless you are certain that it needs no significant work in order to pass the test. The Boat Safety Certificate is a great idea that has been ruined by appalling planning and bureaucracy. The rules are totally inflexible and have left the owners of many older boats feeling disillusioned and a lot poorer.
At present this is around £250/year for a 47ft narrowboat on the Thames, and similar for the canals. It’s calculated by length, beam and the type of engine on board.
You need 3rd party insurance for a boat because they can cause massive damage when driven fast at solid objects (other boats, pilings, bridges etc). However, the insurers don't rate the chances of this happening too often so the premiums are very low. I pay £120 per year at present. My policy also covers my possessions from theft and damage.
A boat needs a lot more TLC than a house. The best way is to do a little job each month rather than letting things build up. Boatyards on the Thames charge a lot for labour and materials, things seem a little cheaper on the canals. Best thing is to Do It Yourself. The main job is repainting the hull with bitumen every 2 – 3 years. If you do this yourself it’ll cost about £300 for the crane, a big shed, pressure hose hire and loads of paint. While it’s out of the water you need to check the ‘anodes’. These are lumps of reactive metal that corrode very quickly. They’re attached to the hull and deter corrosion from taking place on the hull itself. These are unlikely to set you back more than £100 if they need replacing.
Everything else on boats is no more or less expensive than a house or flat. Heating and electricity bills should be very low, we never pay more than £35 per quarter for electricity.