Ben1980

I'm sorry, maybe I misunderstood but are you saying you ought not to have to pay council tax if you're staying on a mooring, more or less permanently ? The council will still have to deal with your refuse, light your streets, maintain your parks, cemeteries, libraries and other public buildings. Or do you simply abdicate your responsibility to the rest of society the moment you move aboard ? If that's what you meant, then you give boaters a bad name and reinforce the belief that we aren't a positive contribution to the community. No wonder people are reluctant to support residential moorings if it means more people using services without contributing.

Thank you for responding ! I perhaps didn't make my intentions clear - I am well aware that it is not any cheaper than living on land. However, I have a great fondness for messing about on the canal and enjoy being outside. I hate living up 7 flights of stairs without even a windowbox. Living in a boat is not cheaper than living in a nice flat but it is much cheaper than living in a detached canalside house.

Hi, this is my first post although I have been reading through the forum and have found it immensely helpful. Just to give you a little background; I have no real experience of narrowboats (just day trips) but have spent a lot of time on the canal as a teenager as I used to row there regularly. I loved going down to the canal on a really crisp winter morning. I am hugely attracted by the idea of living fulltime on a boat. I am currently a student nurse and having been living in student/hospital accommodation which I loathe. It has, however, meant that I am very used to living with very few possessions in a small amount of space. I am very frugal with my use of utilities and am generally a fairly conscientious sort of person. Anyway, a few questions - Realistically, what are the chances of a residential mooring reasonably close to a metropolitan area ? Leeds, Bradford, Lancaster, somewhere along those lines ? I've looked up mooring fees so I have an idea of cost just not how available these are likely to be. Would it be worth putting my name on a waiting list now given that I won't be in a position to buy a boat for a couple of years yet ? If a mooring came up, could I sublet it until I was ready to move there ? While I know that renting out your boat is strictly forbidden, could my cousin buy a share in mine in exchange for the use of it 3 weeks a year as a holiday boat ? How do marine mortgages work ? I've had a look at the websites and seen the interest rates etc. but no indication is given of how they assess people. Is it on the same basis as a regular mortgage ie. 2.5 x your income ? Also, as an entirely separate issue, I've looked at some of the marinas and moorings, both BW and private and it occurs to me to ask why none of them seem to be set up as Housing Associations or Housing Cooperatives ? Surely that would be a very sensible proposal - for residential boatowners to club together and run a marina as an association ? I'm sorry if these are silly questions or have already been answered, I have looked but I may have missed the relevant topics. Ben