Uk marinas that welcome liveaboards
- Thread starter ianj99
- Start date
Sandyman
Well-Known Member
Going back to the topic. If a marina refused you a berth, as a liveaboard, would that not be classed as discrimination because of your chosen lifestyle ?
maby
Well-Known Member
If you park your caravan in the middle of the local park, it will not be long before you get evicted - there's no automatic right to take up residence anywhere. Local councils have been known to seek to evict liveaboards - it will contravene the planning permission for many marinas.
prv
Well-Known Member
Who ever said that "lifestyle" was a protected characteristic?
Race and gender are protected for almost every purpose, sexual orientation increasingly so as well. Age, in many circumstances. All these, yes. "Lifestyle", no.
Pete
hartcjhart
Well-Known Member
and what criteria do they use to determine 'liveaboard' unless they watch you and your boat 24/7/365 then they dont have a hope in hells chance
abraxus
Well-Known Member
No, they don't need to go to so much effort. In the marina I use their T's&C's prohibit liveaboards and they can request to see a current council tax bill for proof if they so choose.
maby
Well-Known Member
You think that it would be below them? These are people who have been criticised for spying on the population on many occasions. A visit to the marina car park late evening for several days running out of the holiday season would be a decent starting point for evidence. Easy to track the vehicle registration back to the owner. Doing that would catch most of the liveaboards in our marina within a couple of weeks.
hartcjhart
Well-Known Member
which is not conclusive proof it is speculative
hartcjhart
Well-Known Member
If the marina are prepared to turn a blind eye,it is still the burden of proof on the council,
how many weeks/months makes you a liveaboard,is it like some mobile home parks that open 10/11 months of the year??, again how can the council PROVE you LIVE there
ccscott49
Well-Known Member
Cant see why he would do that, or a reason why he should, so the answer to your question is no!
hartcjhart
Well-Known Member
errmmmm where is the 'abusive' part
maby
Well-Known Member
It's not conclusive proof, but it would provide strong evidence to indicate people that should be the focus of attention - assuming that you were actively trying to track down liveaboards. The council did it in Brighton a couple of years ago - not to evict them, but to get them to pay council tax.
maby
Well-Known Member
indeed - no abuse obvious from were I sit - just a bit cheeky!
abraxus
Well-Known Member
To be hoenst I'm not sure. Nor am I sure that it's a matter of how many weeks/months etc, and more a case of whether you have a permanent residence other than your boat.
I would imagine that if you don't have a permanent residence on which you pay oouncil tax, or are on the electoral register for, then that would be considered as proof.
My guess is that if you had a land based address, at which you were registered and paid council tax, then I doubt they'd care if you spend 12 months a year onboard your boat.
maby
Well-Known Member
If, like us, your house is in a different county to your boat, then they may care - they may claim that we consume resources without contributing to the costs. Admittedly, the marina must be paying business rates - I wonder how many households of domestic rates that equates to?
Davy_S
Well-Known Member
From what I have heard, regarding the mobile home type sites that open for 10 months of the year. They are Not classed as residential, they will not allow you to have mail delivered to the site, you are expected to have a main uk residence where you pay council tax. the only legal way of avoiding council tax is to tow a Caravan to another site every month, according to Caravan forums, so, I would imagine that a boat could quite easily move if needed to comply.
ianj99
Well-Known Member
There must be some exceptions, or maybe Scotland has different rules. A couple who were liveaboards but sadly, whose boat needed repairs way outside what they could afford, moved into a static caravan on a nearby park.
Not only do they not pay council tax despite no other residence, they also have a landline phone and broadband in the van. That was a 'first' for BT apparently!
(I think the 10month rule still applies though)
abraxus
Well-Known Member
From what I understand it depend on a variety of factors. As best as I can understand it, it's the mooring rather than the boat itself that is potentially liable for council tax. Therefore, under a normal marina contract, where the marina retains the right to move the boat (even if it doesn't exercise that right) or can put other boats in the morring while you're away, then you're not liable for council tax.
Here's a link anyway:
http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/Pub...ual/council_tax_man_pn/t-ct-man-pn7-appd.html
jeanne
Well-Known Member
Hoo marina on the Medway has been bought and renamed 'Port Werburgh', to run as a liveaboard base.
See the interesting range of craft at www wanttoliveaboard.com. The only snag is that they appear to have already filled the berths with boats, some of which are for sale as ' projects'.
I would guess that they are not looking for wandering sailing boats, but rather for permanent residents.
I wonder if they hope to keep control of the site in the way that static caravans sites have done.
See the interesting range of craft at www wanttoliveaboard.com. The only snag is that they appear to have already filled the berths with boats, some of which are for sale as ' projects'.
I would guess that they are not looking for wandering sailing boats, but rather for permanent residents.
I wonder if they hope to keep control of the site in the way that static caravans sites have done.
simon barefoot
Well-Known Member
Hmmm, not many other caravans in the park are there? Probably other boats in the marina though? After all, that's where they're meant to be. Why does it matter what people choose to do on them?