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I think you'll find that I left the waterways of my own accordance. I didn't breach any terms of contract and therefore was not evicted. I was told that no residential mooring was available because I didn't fit the criteria, due to having been on a repayment schedule. This This was because I followed advice. The moral of my story is; don't argue, just pay up or push off.

Where was the part where I blame anyone. I merely told my story and then expanded on it when questioned. It seems to me that you like to be right. I chose my own journey through life and am not dead yet. So far so good.

At first unhappy, then the term "your contract will not be renewed". Don't think for one minute that I buried my head in the sand. I weighed up all of my options. When you have a small child the river ouse in winter is not a place to be. ripon motorboat club does not take 57ft craft and thats the lot till selby. I checked from leeds to lancaster. Sheffield to selby. out of the few places we were offered we chose to sell up.

Same company, different city.

3 months is different to yearly. Anyway not been looking for 10 months.

Problem is that they are full or require an address.

I'm stuck in the top 1/4.

Having a widebeam limits your choices. Having no address limits your choices. Picking a place to live at the start was easy. Being priced out of the market was not my fault. Yet things happen and life goes on. Many things happen for a reason, it will become obvious to me eventually.

Getting back on to land and paying rent there is just as likely to be lining the wallet of a fatcat company or individual as staying on the water. You are able to choose your landlord if you look around. Here in the sticks it is easier anyway.

I don't believe people owe me a favour. The majority of people at Ripon disliked the attitude of the company and the over inflated increases. Some just saw they had no choice but to pay. I chose to question their decisions. And yes I believe I have made the right decision for me.

Sorry. 1. Estate agents have a criteria for how much you could achieve financially per month. 2.ripon marina had little money put forward for maintenance and repair. 3.thought that was clear enough, but, when you buy a boat you expect to pay for moorings yet I can't understand how they work the figures out. BWML stated to me it's based on the land value and facilities. Ripon had a toilet block. York marina is cheaper and boasts all sorts of stuff. I chose to get back on to land because my money was lining fat wallets. Very little went to look after the local waters and all I got for my questions was "that's just how it is" Big companies don't care for anything more than profits. I looked hard for somewhere else but didn't have an address anymore as the business closed down. Catch 22.

I dont need to pay for upkeep to the building. Just live. I can live hassle free and still choose a suitable location, move when I like and yes the landlord could put the price up although market value is the key. Bedroom numbers and location make the pricing structure to rentable value. I got a boat to live sustainably. Not work more to pay for other marinas. If every penny went to a good farmer I wouldn't begrudge. But 20 marinas and 6 managers to run 1 just doesn't seem right. When you pay70k for a house you dont pay ground rent for the land it's on, to the tune of rentable properties in the locality. You pay a maintenance fee for upkeep. I got a house because there is something wrong with how things are being run by the waterways.

Hello all. I have been following this thread with interest and would like to give you some background info on the Ombudsman decision mentioned toward the beginning. We are a family with one child at a local school and a small business in a nearby town. BWML took over from BW in 2004, for 2 years they were offering "liveaboard" status at Ripon Marina for an extra fee, on top of the moorings price. This was then renamed to a "grade 1" extra charge, so as to be legally correct, yet still giving the same entitlements. We took a grade 1 mooring in 2008.We paid a widebeam charge of nearly £80. As stated in the decision letter a mis-mailed letter from BWML did not reach us(even though BWML had given us the post box) so when the 2009 contract arrived in our postbox the introduction of a 30% fee for widebeams was a shock. After going through the internal complaints procedure and then to BW complaints department, we took our complaint to the Ombudsman. All this took a year to complete. We were advised at the start by CAB not to pay the extra charge and keep up with the normal payments, as paying up would look like we agreed with the new contract. Little did we know that this would be a black mark against our name to be enforced if we stepped out of line again in the future. With the help of the ombudsmen we were able to set up a payment scheme with BWML to get us out of the backlog of debt from a year of arguing our position. We are not rich and an extra 30% on top of the yearly increase adds up after a couple of years. There is no other marina in the locality and the nearest we could go to continue living afloat would have been an hour's journey to work. Nowhere to go and not a leg to stand on. BWML knew this was the case with all of the residents and so started proceedings to impose the new "residential" status and looked to the council for planning consent in 2012. This also brought a new price increase with it. We and many others disagreed that the increase would be fair. No money seemed to be spent at our marina, sloppy maintenance and a million pound expansion at Sawley(one they actually own) really got our backs up. If we were not legally allowed to live aboard our boats, why were we paying a premium to do so? Along with many boaters at Ripon we objected to the planning application, if only to seek to slow the process down and get our voices heard. We all knew that legally living aboard was a great thing but to see yet another price hike for the sake of paying council tax was not what we wanted to hear. Suffice to say Darren Bramhall didn't like this and seemed to wage war on all who went against the smooth flow of increased profits. Now half the marina is empty and from retirees to families, all have been removed from site. There was no way we or many others could afford the proposed increases. What was to next year to bring? The mooring fees had nearly doubled in 5 years and could do the same again in the next 5. BWML ruined a dream and nearly a family with the financial stress and a future of uncertainty. People are still being evicted from Ripon today. But it's what happens next that worries: new people have a dream, they take a mooring, unaware of the war that broke out in 2013. They settle in to thier new lives and then the new contract drops in thier post box with a thud! Next year will be different. The marina operators in the UK have free will to do as they please. They are bound by no laws or regulators, except the ones they make themselves, and they are at liberty to change those each year. BWML set prices and privately owned marinas follow shortly behind them. Gone are the days of free roam and light industrial use. Tatty are the towpaths and full of rubbish are the waterways. Volunteers cleaned up the waterways for many to enjoy, lack of commitment from BW has seen CaRT to be born and the waterways are back in the hands of volunteers. We miss the lifestyle choice we chose and also the many friends we made in the 7 years we were afloat. We now have a house, rented for the same price as mooring "our" boat. That cannot be right, can it?

I thought I would just add my experience of BWML to this thread. We took a grade one mooring with the company back in 2008. We were told we could live aboard and were given an address to boot. Now we have been told to prove we have another address or leave. Mmmmm. We were ok 5 years ago but now???????? Also, back in 2005 they did provide a 'liveaboard' mooring but then changed it to 'grade 1'. Does this mean that no-one should have been living aboard since then, and have they been trading illegaly??? To add insult to injury we were denied access to a residential mooring because they had a 'criteria list' and we didn't fit it due to advice from the citizens advice bureau. Something only decided by Darren Bramall just before they released the paperwork (I don't think that he likes us). After seeing their moorings double in price and then getting virtually kicked off the marina we've had enough of them and their bullying ways. We now have bricks and mortar, but I do miss the way of life. The company spoilt 3 years of life for us. I wished Ripon had another marina so that we could have been close to family and friends, but monopolies don't like neighbours. If they cared for their customers more then their customers would care for them more. Living afloat is not cheap but increases like the ones that we had to endure are not necessary. Especially when we had nothing spent at our marina. One day I will return to the waterways. Residential status may get the company off the hook legally but it seems to be just another price hike now boaters have to fund CaRT.