Boat Mortgage suppliers.

[Chris Cleveland]

Hi all,

 

I've made the decision to buy a narrowboat instead of jumping on the house market. 

I'm wondering if there is anyone who can recommend any boat mortgage companies or any advice in that regard?

 

Thank you In advance,

Chris.

[alias]

3 minutes ago, Chris Cleveland said:

Hi all,

 

I've made the decision to buy a narrowboat instead of jumping on the house market. 

I'm wondering if there is anyone who can recommend any boat mortgage companies or any advice in that regard?

 

Thank you In advance,

Chris.

This may help:

 

[Alan de Enfield]

As many of the Marine Mortgage companies have pulled out of the Inland Waterways market the normal method would be a personal bank loan so the loan is not secured on the boat, but on your personal history and credit rating.

 

If you don't have a good (UK) credit rating then you may struggle to get finance and would have to rely on family or friends to loan you the difference, or act as guarantor - BUT don't underestimate what it costs to run a boat - they are not cheaper than a flat, certainly if you are having to repay loans.

 

An alternative is to buy a boat-share but that would only give you X weeks usage per annum depending on your share size.

[ditchcrawler]

14 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

An alternative is to buy a boat-share but that would only give you X weeks usage per annum depending on your share size.

Where would they live the rest of the year?

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Where would they live the rest of the year?

On the other boats they share, of course. 

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, Rumsky said:

On the other boats they share, of course. 

 

1/4 share in each of 4 boats and Robert's your Mothers Brother.

[manicpb]

50 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

...don't underestimate what it costs to run a boat - they are not cheaper than a flat, certainly if you are having to repay loans.

I've seen this said a fair bit on this forum (I'm not picking you out specifically Alan) and either you've been out of the flat/house rental/buying game for do long you've lost track of costs...but it is significantly cheaper living on a boat.

 

Cheapest bedsit (inc council tax/elec/etc) is in my area £350p/m, my mooring/gas/pump out comes to £200p/m. Flats or houses with council tax would easily take me over 100% costs of boat living, obviously taking into account I'm registered somewhere else. There's the odd cost of blacking and bsc every 4 years or so...but it is still cheaper.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's very different to regular living. You must be happy with elec restrictions and put up with the cold for an hour till your stove has got going, but it's cheaper without a doubt!

[Alan de Enfield]

17 minutes ago, manicpb said:

I've seen this said a fair bit on this forum (I'm not picking you out specifically Alan) and either you've been out of the flat/house rental/buying game for do long you've lost track of costs...but it is significantly cheaper living on a boat.

 

Cheapest bedsit (inc council tax/elec/etc) is in my area £350p/m, my mooring/gas/pump out comes to £200p/m. Flats or houses with council tax would easily take me over 100% costs of boat living, obviously taking into account I'm registered somewhere else. There's the odd cost of blacking and bsc every 4 years or so...but it is still cheaper.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's very different to regular living. You must be happy with elec restrictions and put up with the cold for an hour till your stove has got going, but it's cheaper without a doubt!

 

That's fair and your experience - but it does depends on your mooring type and cost.

 

My (leisure) mooring is £3500 pa (so about the same as 'your' £350/month flat all inclusive) and I have to pay gas, electric on top, £800+ for the boat licence, £200 for insurance, 1/4 of the BSS, etc etc.

 

My No2 Son has a rented (very small) cottage on the South Coast and is paying £1200 per month - residential moorings in London regularly make £15,000 pa at auction.

 

The running costs of a boat far exceed that of a rented flat - get a plumbing leak and the landlord pays for the repairs, appliances 'blow up' and the Landlord replaces. The same happens with a boat and YOU have to pay.

 

I'd suggest that it is no cheaper to live (legally) on a boat on a mooring than a flat in a similar area.

 

CCing is not possible for many people who need to be in a restricted area for work / school / hospitals etc, but for those who can, there may be a saving in not paying for a mooring, but at what 'offset cost' of additional fuel, additional hours on the engine, additional servicing costs etc.

Edited October 10, 2020 by Alan de Enfield

[Guest]

We have never lived aboard and have only ever been 'leisure' boaters so cannot advise the OP on the costs of living on a boat.

 

Some people have in the past given some ideas on here.

 

However this fellow attempts to break it down in some detail. I see know reason to doubt his figures. As he points out there will be individual variations particularly if you intend to have a different cruising pattern.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by The Happy Nomad

[ditchcrawler]

But he only wants to know where to borrow the money. From what I have heard a marine mortgage has quite a high rate of interest compared to a house or bank loan, but that is only what I have heard.

https://www.marine-finance.org/boat-loan-calculator/

 

https://www.pegasusmarinefinance.co.uk/calculator/

 

https://www.lombard.co.uk/lombard/assets/marine-finance/leisure-marine-finance.html

[Tim Lewis]

45 minutes ago, manicpb said:

I've seen this said a fair bit on this forum (I'm not picking you out specifically Alan) and either you've been out of the flat/house rental/buying game for do long you've lost track of costs...but it is significantly cheaper living on a boat.

 

Cheapest bedsit (inc council tax/elec/etc) is in my area £350p/m, my mooring/gas/pump out comes to £200p/m. Flats or houses with council tax would easily take me over 100% costs of boat living, obviously taking into account I'm registered somewhere else. There's the odd cost of blacking and bsc every 4 years or so...but it is still cheaper.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's very different to regular living. You must be happy with elec restrictions and put up with the cold for an hour till your stove has got going, but it's cheaper without a doubt!

In London the cost of renting and running a flat in London is nearer £2.000 a month, it's not difficult to see why we have so many continuous cruisers in the capital.

 

Tim

[ditchcrawler]

Followed a boat today heading for London, he may be able to steer by the time he gets there from the T&M

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

But he only wants to know where to borrow the money. From what I have heard a marine mortgage has quite a high rate of interest compared to a house or bank loan, but that is only what I have heard.

https://www.marine-finance.org/boat-loan-calculator/

 

https://www.pegasusmarinefinance.co.uk/calculator/

 

https://www.lombard.co.uk/lombard/assets/marine-finance/leisure-marine-finance.html

I cant recall the exact figures now but our marine mortgage with RoyScot Larch was definitely at a significantly higher rate than the mortgage we had on the house at the time. It was paid off as soon as we were able.

 

RSL of course like Barclays Marine pulled out the marine mortgage market years ago.

 

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by The Happy Nomad