Newbs Guide to buying a boat to live on

[Caerleon]

Hello all,

I was hoping that one of you fine people would be able to give me some advice in regards to the process (and pitfalls) of buying a yacht to live aboard?

The issue for me currently is financial, as in I have a massive rent (£1000) to live in London and I'm sick of paying thru the nose to live where I work. I have a type of craft in mind, not much sail experience (but have experienced friends to advise) not much of a deposit and after some research, none the wiser to which lender/terms to choose from.

Is anyone out there who has taken the first steps towards ownership and would like to share how you have managed it?

Thanks in advance,
C

 

[LittleSister]

Easy to buy a boat. Not necessarily quite so easy to find a good live aboard mooring.

 

[Tranona]

Hello all,

I was hoping that one of you fine people would be able to give me some advice in regards to the process (and pitfalls) of buying a yacht to live aboard?

The issue for me currently is financial, as in I have a massive rent (£1000) to live in London and I'm sick of paying thru the nose to live where I work. I have a type of craft in mind, not much sail experience (but have experienced friends to advise) not much of a deposit and after some research, none the wiser to which lender/terms to choose from.

Is anyone out there who has taken the first steps towards ownership and would like to share how you have managed it?

Thanks in advance,
C

As already mentioned the biggest challenge anywhere near London is finding a mooring. Proper residential moorings are almost impossible to find and are not cheap and unlikely to show any saving over what you are paying now.

You will find it very difficult to borrow against a boat as security, so it would have to be secured against something else such as a second mortgage on a house. Otherwise it has to be unsecured borrowing with the attendant high interest rates and limited amounts depending on your credit worthiness.

Sorry to sound negative but living on a boat in your circumstances is not the answer to your housing problems.

 

[Caerleon]

Thanks for the replies

 

[truscott]

There is a thread on here somewhere by Zanzibar about him buying a yacht and living aboard and eventually trading up to a bigger yacht. As far as I recall, it wasn't in London.

Also look at the Boogienights blog. She lived aboard a Narrowboat there and had to move every so often if I recall correctly.

Our experience of buying our live aboard home would probably not be of any use to you (we borrowed against the increased value of our properties and then spent a number of years paying that off and upgrading/renovating the boat).

Good luck.

PT

 

[Tranona]

It is quite possible to live economically on a boat in many parts of the UK, just difficult in london because of the lack of berths - at least affordable ones.

Many of the narrow boats like the one you referred to have restricted licences called "continuous cruising" which means they cannot stay permanently on a specific mooring so in theory are not compatible with working in a specific location.

Inevitably this system gets abused and together with totally illegal unlicensed boats is the cause of the waterborne shanty towns that infest many of our waterways, particularly close to towns. The CRT has made great efforts to solve this problem but it is a mammoth task.

 

[nortada]

It is quite possible to live economically on a boat in many parts of the UK, just difficult in london because of the lack of berths - at least affordable ones.

Many of the narrow boats like the one you referred to have restricted licences called "continuous cruising" which means they cannot stay permanently on a specific mooring so in theory are not compatible with working in a specific location.

Inevitably this system gets abused and together with totally illegal unlicensed boats is the cause of the waterborne shanty towns that infest many of our waterways, particularly close to towns. The CRT has made great efforts to solve this problem but it is a mammoth task.

Especially with a lack of other forms of affordable housing!

 

[ripvan1]

Can't be much fun living in London on budget - can the job be relocated to somewhere cheaper to live and more liveaboard friendly. Sounds like if you've dreams of becoming liveaboard a complete lifestyle/job/location might be worth considering - more info about yourself would be good.