How to buy a boat (U.K.)

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JakeMM

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What is involved in terms of paperwork when buying a boat?

The boat I’m looking to buy has a SSR number. Does anything official get transferred when completing the purchase?

Or do I just request a hand written receipt confirming what I’m buying, and the price being paid.

The boat in question is being bought through a private sale.
 
Suggest you read the material on the RYA website covering buying and selling boats.

Basic rules are that first you establish that the seller has title to sell, usually by seeing the paperwork history with a Bill of Sale from the last owner to him. When you have agreed the price it is helpful to have a contract using the model contract on the RYA site, particularly if it is a higher value boat and you are going to have a survey before you accept the boat. Once you are satisfied that the boat is his to sell and meets the description, check that there are no outstanding bills such as mooring charges that need to be settled. Transfer of title to you is best evidenced by using the Bill of Sale form which you can download from the RYA site.

Registration is not compulsory, but the seller should notify the registry and you can then register if you want to. You will also need to deal with the Radio licence.
 
As Tranona says check the process given by the RYA.

bill of sale to the owner and to you is key. Also nice to have, but depends on age and value of the boat, is a statement that there is no lien on the boat (can’t remember if this is part of the bill of sale or not) and evidence of VAT paid.

you’ll get the best advice if you tell us the class, age and value of the boat.

if it’s high value remember you can hire a broker to work for you even if the owner is selling privately. A good broker will take a lot of stress away.
 
this kind of depends on the boat, and more info would help.
In all cases though you need to be confident that the vendor has the legal ownership, and no debt follows it.
If it is an older boat of modest value, it is very unlikely to be subject to hire purchase or marine mortgage debt.
has the seller got any old invoices for servicing or moorings? They indicate ownership better than a diy bill of sale when they purchased it.
downloading template bills of sale from the RYA or MCA is a good idea when you buy it.
the ssr lapses when sold, it is the vendors responsibility to tell the mca, not yours. You can pay to get the ssr in your name afterwards if you wish.
it is very common for older boats (15yr or more or up to a few £1000s)to be sold privately with very little paperwork attached. i have bought boats up to £5k with Tesco bags full of tenners in the past quite happily, but cash is frowned on nowadays with money laundering and people trafficking.
 
Whether or not you plan to have a survey will also have a bearing - if you are the usual protocol would be you agree a price, pay a 10% deposit subject to survey, have the survey, renegotiate or not based on the findings of the survey, pay the balance & get bill of sale. If it's a lower value boat and/or you or somebody else you check over the boat with knows what they're looking at you might forego a survey...
 
V1701 said:
Whether or not you plan to have a survey will also have a bearing - if you are the usual protocol would be you agree a price, pay a 10% deposit subject to survey, have the survey, renegotiate or not based on the findings of the survey, pay the balance & get bill of sale. If it's a lower value boat and/or you or somebody else you check over the boat with knows what they're looking at you might forego a survey...
Click to expand...

where’s that 10% going if there’s not a broker’s escrow account involved though?
 
bitbaltic said:
where’s that 10% going if there’s not a broker’s escrow account involved though?
Click to expand...
Fair point, I've paid a deposit to the seller before now but not high value boats and of course there is an element of trust involved. I don't think a reasonable seller would object to showing some photo ID & proof of address. Of the six boats I've bought only one was via a broker, buying privately you get to meet the owner and form an impression of them and how well they know and treat their boat which is very useful. Other buyers might prefer to adopt a more cautious approach and employ their own broker...
 
JakeMM said:
What is involved in terms of paperwork when buying a boat?

The boat I’m looking to buy has a SSR number. Does anything official get transferred when completing the purchase?

Or do I just request a hand written receipt confirming what I’m buying, and the price being paid.

The boat in question is being bought through a private sale.
Click to expand...
As soon as the idea of buying a boat crosses your mind there are 3 things you must do.

Go into the nearest pub and buy everyone in there a drink
Proceed to drink yourself into a stupor
When you wake up the mood should have passed

You will not have spent anything like the money you will spend on buying and keeping a boat
 
Gwylan said:
As soon as the idea of buying a boat crosses your mind there are 3 things you must do.

Go into the nearest pub and buy everyone in there a drink
Proceed to drink yourself into a stupor
When you wake up the mood should have passed

You will not have spent anything like the money you will spend on buying and keeping a boat
Click to expand...
I tried this, but unfortunately I retained the enthusiasm for boat ownership. ? ? ? ?
 
Good luck even finding a boat that is still for sale. Boats are being sold unseen (unless you consider a video call seeing it) within an hour, people are paying their 10% deposit over the phone to make sure they get it. You don't mention your budget but I was looking £45 - 60K 34 to 37 foot.

Certainly if a boat in that price range is still for sale for over a week it is probably not worth having or they have not bothered to update the advert (I have had plenty of, "sold it days ago" - so why didn't you update ad :mad::mad::mad:)

If similar budget or higher check all brokers websites regularly through the day and if less then regularly check the other selling sites set to "most recent."

Oh and make sure you can find somewhere to keep it as lot of the Marina's are full up (or at least around the River Orwell area where I was searching.)

Thankfully after much frustration I found one being sold privately with what seems a very genuine decent seller who has even offered to help me get the boat back down South with a friend who has done the same passage many times.

Good Luck, it seems a crazy world at the moment!


Paul
(I know, best two days of boat ownership and one of those is the day you sell it?)
 
The amount of paperwork involved can/will depend entirely on you, and price bracket of the boat.
The statement "Caveat Emptor" came into existance after some Greek sailor other got well and truly stiffed after buying a Trireme well past its sink by date.
Nothing has much changed over the last 2000 years of buying and selling boats. It still applies with vengence .
At the lower end of the market nobody is going to entertain surveys and broker involvement costing more than the value of the boat, its up to you to decide if the boat is any good, if the bloke taking your cash actually owns the boat and if he has any outstanding debts regards finance or mooring charges.
Take all and any advice you can get.
The market seems to have undergone a sudden reversal in its fortunes, stuff that once could not be given away is flying out the door.
One bit of advice, fixer uppers usually end up costing more than buying a going concern and will ensure you spend more time ashore than boating.
Boatyards are full of projects that will never ever see the water again.
Cannot comment of sailing boats but with a motorboat condition of the engines and method of propulsion should be your primary concern.
It is very easy to hide problems in this department from the unwary.
Welcome to the world of boating. :)
 
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KompetentKrew said:
I tried this, but unfortunately I retained the enthusiasm for boat ownership. ? ? ? ?
Click to expand...
Obviously a recidivist and need to try harder.

Have you tried BA, Boaty Anonymous.

"Hello, my name's Gwylan it's been 11 months 3 weeks and 2 days since I owned a boat. I have been drunk but boat free for everyone of those days. One day at a time"
 
All good advice above, but I disagree with the concept of employing a buyer's broker, even for high value transactions (or in fact, especially in them!).

If you really can't do it yourself (and any half sensible person really can) then employ a solicitor. One who knows something about boats. I was uniquely qualified for this task at my first law firm where I acted for the buyer of a nearly new Fleming 55 and it really helped the owner to know that he had someone advising him who knew boats and the law. With a broker, you have pretty much zero come back if they advise you incorrectly and I have seen some pitiful attempts to draw together sale documents by brokers in the past (although some are very good - its just a lottery).
 
I don't think one point has been stressed enough - the need for a survey. From what the OP infers, this is his first boat and I wonder how much he knows about them, I certainly didn't with our first boat and was an expensive mistake not having a pre-purchase survey. If it's of a value where he will want comprehensive insurance, insurers will require a survey so, far better to have one before purchase.
 
Many thanks for all the replies!

The boat is pre 1985. Previously I know that boats of this age were assumed to be VAT paid. Is this still the case post Brexit?

I’ll go through all the links regarding paperwork. The boat is a sailing yacht, and is high 4 figures.

I’ll try and get as much paperwork as possible, and will make enquiries with the Marina to ensure everything is up to date.

What is a survey likely to cost on a fibreglass sailing boat? And would it be worth it for a boat of high 4 figures?
 
JakeMM said:
What is a survey likely to cost on a fibreglass sailing boat? And would it be worth it for a boat of high 4 figures?
Click to expand...

I've not had a survey in UK for a long time so others will have to answer cost.

You say high four figures so <£10,000? The question is, will you want to insure it comprehensively in which case pretty certain insurers will demand survey or, can you afford to carry your own risk for maybe total loss and just have third party? Quite often a survey will show up some costly problems which need fixing, giving the opportunity to renegotiate the price.
 
JakeMM said:
The boat is pre 1985. Previously I know that boats of this age were assumed to be VAT paid. Is this still the case post Brexit?
snipped .....
Click to expand...
Pre 1985 is deemed VAT paid ONLY IF you also have proof that the boat was in the EU on the last day of 1992. Not that you are in much risk of a pre-1985 sub £10K boat ever being asked for evidence of this.
 
Survey likely to be £4-500. As suggested if you want to insure all risks then insurers are increasingly asking for a survey.
 
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