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Family Evicted from Bristol harbour - living on a 'leisure mooring'


Alan de Enfield

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4 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Every mooring provider interprets the law their own way.

 

BWML for example were very clear.

 

 

To have a leisure mooring

 

1) you must provide a Council Tax bill in your name for your 'main residential property'

2) you must spend 1 night (at least) per month either not on board, or take your boat out of the marina for the night.

Took a winter mooring at Kings 2 years running but was never asked for Council Tax bill or asked to move.

 

But then we kept a low profile until they said we had to move our coal off the finger pontoon.

Edited by pearley
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1 hour ago, pearley said:

Why should the rules he different if we are there for 5 months rather than 12? And paying less than the residentials with the same facilities.

I think you are quite correct - you should have been charged council tax........unless you pay council tax elsewhere.

 

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6 minutes ago, MartynG said:

I think you are quite correct - you should have been charged council tax........unless you pay council tax elsewhere.

 

Most of the residents there are paying consolidated council tax which meant they are supposed to move berths several times during the year. Except, speaking to one of them last week the new warden says not to bother.

 

The problem with CT on residential boats is that there should be a lower band than A to recognise the lack of council provided facilities compared to even the smallest house.

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Just now, pearley said:

The problem with CT on residential boats is that there should be a lower band than A to recognise the lack of council provided facilities compared to even the smallest house.

What council facilities are absent?  Only bin collection  being absent comes to mind  buts that's a small part of the things that are funded by council tax.

 

 

 

 

 

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12 minutes ago, pearley said:

The problem with CT on residential boats is that there should be a lower band than A to recognise the lack of council provided facilities compared to even the smallest house.

I think you're expecting too much. My house is in a private estate, so we pay an additional fee to get council road sweeping, we pay a private company for gulley cleaning, we pay EDF for electricity used in street lighting and another for maintenance, we have to pay for road surfacing including for the council owned approach road, etc. Do we qualify for a discount on council tax or receive a lower band assessment to allow for this? Of course not.

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Interesting that they have been told to "leave the vessel". 

 

This seems to be a better outcome than "remove the vessel". 

 

Some of these houseboat type items which don't have a legal basis to be there can be worth less than £1 and often cost money to get rid of. For a start a towage service is going to run into thousands and where do you take it? 

 

If the council are offering to dispose of it that sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

 

 

28 minutes ago, pearley said:

Most of the residents there are paying consolidated council tax which meant they are supposed to move berths several times during the year. Except, speaking to one of them last week the new warden says not to bother.

 

The problem with CT on residential boats is that there should be a lower band than A to recognise the lack of council provided facilities compared to even the smallest house.

I pay full rate (2 adult) council tax on my residential mooring. No it doesn't include the bins but as the mooring itself has a notional value (crt mooring) the CT is calculated on that value which as far as I can see is one of the lower bands if it were referring to property. 

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16 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I think you're expecting too much. My house is in a private estate, so we pay an additional fee to get council road sweeping, we pay a private company for gulley cleaning, we pay EDF for electricity used in street lighting and another for maintenance, we have to pay for road surfacing including for the council owned approach road, etc. Do we qualify for a discount on council tax or receive a lower band assessment to allow for this? Of course not.

Same here. I live in the country half a mile from the public road. There are 8 properties that share our access track. The residents clubbed together to pay for the track to be paved, it never gets swept, there is no street lighting, we clear the snow and occasional fallen tree ourselves. We have a private borehole water supply and septic tanks. But the binmen and postman come down to collect and deliver at each house. And we don't get a CT discount either.

Edited by David Mack
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25 minutes ago, pearley said:

 

The problem with CT on residential boats is that there should be a lower band than A to recognise the lack of council provided facilities compared to even the smallest house.

have you ever checked on where council tax money is actually spent? 

 

  https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/A4 STATIC IMAGE_04_1.pdf

 

nothing to do with the size of your house, it's just an assumption that those in big houses can afford to pay more.   

you are paying for the privilege of living in a community, with all that that entails.   

of course you could beach your boat in a mud berth on the Isle of Sheppey and pay nowt if you don't want to live within a community.

 

you can't opt out of paying for social care, for example, just because you live on a boat, any more than I can because I don't need to avail myself of such care.

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13 hours ago, Heartland said:

Perhaps some body can explain the regulations for the double deck "homes" that are on the Erewash Canal near Trent Lock.

Some one on Facebook has asked about double decker Narrowboats

6 hours ago, MartynG said:

What council facilities are absent?  Only bin collection  being absent comes to mind  buts that's a small part of the things that are funded by council tax.

 

 

 

 

 

That is the only difference I could think of as well. Blue bin one week and black the next, green you have to pay for.

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12 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Some one on Facebook has asked about double decker Narrowboats

That is the only difference I could think of as well. Blue bin one week and black the next, green you have to pay for.

Our local conservative councillor fought hard to stop charges for the green bin and so far he has prevailed.

 

They suspended green bin collections at the outset of the pandemic but they were re instated a couple of months later.

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23 hours ago, Heartland said:

Perhaps some body can explain the regulations for the double deck "homes" that are on the Erewash Canal near Trent Lock.

They are residential house boats all paying council tax with full rights to moor and live there. They are also able to sell them as with other residences.

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BWML (before it was renamed / sold off) had applied for planning permission to change all of the moorings on A pontoon (Kings marina - Newark) from 'boat moorings' to 'house moorings'

 

For these :

 

Floating home

 

 

It appears that Aquavista (the new BWML) are still promoting these on their website :

 

 

A unique concept in home ownership, floating homes are comfortable two-bedroom lodges built on the water at two tranquil marinas, Sawley Waterside & Marina in Nottinghamshire and Priory Waterside & Marina in Bedford. There are just 21 lodges in total, and these exclusive developments are perfect for a downsizing move or a holiday home, where the setting and the lifestyle are part of the package. 

 

https://www.aquavista.com/buy-a-floating-home

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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48 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

BWML (before it was renamed / sold off) had applied for planning permission to change all of the moorings on A pontoon (Kings marina - Newark) from 'boat moorings' to 'house moorings'

 

For these :

 

Floating home

 

 

It appears that Aquavista (the new BWML) are still promoting these on their website :

 

 

A unique concept in home ownership, floating homes are comfortable two-bedroom lodges built on the water at two tranquil marinas, Sawley Waterside & Marina in Nottinghamshire and Priory Waterside & Marina in Bedford. There are just 21 lodges in total, and these exclusive developments are perfect for a downsizing move or a holiday home, where the setting and the lifestyle are part of the package. 

 

https://www.aquavista.com/buy-a-floating-home

pump out or elsan?

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17 hours ago, David Mack said:

Same here. I live in the country half a mile from the public road. There are 8 properties that share our access track. The residents clubbed together to pay for the track to be paved, it never gets swept, there is no street lighting, we clear the snow and occasional fallen tree ourselves. We have a private borehole water supply and septic tanks. But the binmen and postman come down to collect and deliver at each house. And we don't get a CT discount either.

You're still doing well - I have a friend in South Wales in similar circumstances except the group of properties are in one county and the end of the private road in another!

 

The Council for the end of the road won't collect the refuse as the rates don't come to them - The Council who get the rates won't collect refuse as it's an eight mile round trip to collect bins which are geographically in another county (even if the contents came from their county)

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

BWML (before it was renamed / sold off) had applied for planning permission to change all of the moorings on A pontoon (Kings marina - Newark) from 'boat moorings' to 'house moorings'

 

For these :

 

Floating home

 

 

It appears that Aquavista (the new BWML) are still promoting these on their website :

 

 

A unique concept in home ownership, floating homes are comfortable two-bedroom lodges built on the water at two tranquil marinas, Sawley Waterside & Marina in Nottinghamshire and Priory Waterside & Marina in Bedford. There are just 21 lodges in total, and these exclusive developments are perfect for a downsizing move or a holiday home, where the setting and the lifestyle are part of the package. 

 

https://www.aquavista.com/buy-a-floating-home

I have lived in many houses and now lived on a boat for over ten years as a continuous cruiser, this thing appears to successfully combine the disadvantages of both options.

 

................Dave

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