Intensive use of mooring - definition

[magpie patrick]

Just a quick question - some mooring operators have a surcharge for "intensive use" - i.e. being on board at the mooring a lot. Can anyone give examples of how this is defined? 

 

I'm looking for information not confrontation! Just seeking examples rather than questioning the system 

[dmr]

I have interpreted this as living on the boat more or less full time but not having a postal address or anything else that would formally identify the mooring as residential.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, magpie patrick said:

Just a quick question - some mooring operators have a surcharge for "intensive use" - i.e. being on board at the mooring a lot. Can anyone give examples of how this is defined? 

 

I'm looking for information not confrontation! Just seeking examples rather than questioning the system 

 

Assuming you are meaning 'leisure moorings' ?

 

When we had a BWML mooring they defined their 'leisure mooring' as being available for extended use but not liveaboard use and they would accept 'high usage' as long as either the boat was taken out of the marina for at least one night per month, or the boat was vacated for at least one night a month'

It was not unusual to see 'marina based boats' moored up a few 100 yards awayy from the marina entrance, and then back in the next day.

 

Since the sell-off AltaVista have changed all the T&Cs

 

What is a leisure mooring?

With a leisure mooring you have your own mooring space at the Aquavista Waterside and Marina where you keep your boat. It’s ‘home’ for the boat when you are not exploring the waterways and you can also spend weekend breaks and holidays on your boat in the marina. You can’t live full time on your boat or use it as a postal address – you need a residential  mooring for that– but if you have a boat that you take out on the water or even just use as a holiday home, a leisure mooring is ideal.

Leisure moorings are available at all Aquavista Waterside and Marina locations. Take a look at them here and see which is right for you and your boat.

 

What is a residential mooring?

A residential mooring is your home and permanent residence with a waterfront view- just with an added sense of freedom and a simpler existence. It’s your registered UK postal address, your legally recognised residence, and you enjoy all the normal services, such as waste disposal and other public services. It is your address for Council Tax purposes too, so take a look at our Guide to residential living, this might help you. The beauty of living on your boat is that you enjoy a private waterside location away from the world, you are part of a close-knit community of people who think like you do, and if you fancy a change of scenery you can discuss with our team about relocating to another available location on the marina. 

Your benefits as an Aquavista resident

A residential mooring at Aquavista comes with hundreds of pounds worth of additional benefits to make life on the water plain sailing for you. Here’s just some of the many benefits you enjoy as a resident:

• Your own post box, and we’ll accept parcels on your behalf if you are out
• A private storage box (in non city marinas where there is space for these)
• Free reciprocal moorings - allows you to have unlimited visits for up to 28 days at other Aquavista locations nationwide
• 20% off insurance with the Towergate Freshwater Scheme
• 10% off most chandlery purchases
• Free laundry and 12 free pump out tokens per year
• Free Wi-Fi
• An allocated parking space (if available)
• A choice of council tax options - including composite council tax, at most marinas, where we pay on your behalf, but you must move berths twice a year to be eligible

[koukouvagia]

It's not only marinas that do this.  A few years ago CRT informed us that they were going to impose an "intensive use" surcharge on all moorers at our location.  I had to produce evidence that I had a land address.

Every year when the mooring comes up for renewal I ask CRT to confirm that they have not sneakily re-imposed it.

 

[Grassman]

Our marina has 2 categories. Leisure moorings and High Usage moorings, the latter costing about £600 per annum more. There are no official residential moorings but about 30% of the moorers are liveaboards. And only about a third of those liveaboards ever go out on their boats, the rest stay in the marina permanently.

 

We live aboard and pay for a full year's moorings because we like having a base, but are out of the marina for long periods of up to 4 months at a time and in the winter we regularly go boating for a few days or a week perhaps.

 

There seem to be many marinas who have a similar set up and it appears that most local authorities turn a blind eye towards the lack of official residential moorings.

[frangar]

16 minutes ago, Grassman said:

Our marina has 2 categories. Leisure moorings and High Usage moorings, the latter costing about £600 per annum more. There are no official residential moorings but about 30% of the moorers are liveaboards. And only about a third of those liveaboards ever go out on their boats, the rest stay in the marina permanently.

 

We live aboard and pay for a full year's moorings because we like having a base, but are out of the marina for long periods of up to 4 months at a time and in the winter we regularly go boating for a few days or a week perhaps.

 

There seem to be many marinas who have a similar set up and it appears that most local authorities turn a blind eye towards the lack of official residential moorings.

Pretty much the same as us at the marinas we have used. We are allowed post/supermarket delivery etc but I also use my work address for all official stuff just in case the council wake up although it would leave them with a housing problem if they insisted people move off their boats. 
 

I guess I could let the mooring go over the summer but I like knowing we have a base we head for if needed for any reason. We can also leave the car there while out although I’ve also left it at my unit before now. 
 

My advice is to be honest with what you want to do with the marina and see what they say. I know a few who have tried to liveaboard without paying extra. They are soon found out and told to leave…marinas also talk to each other! 

[booke23]

At my current marina intensive use seems to mean living aboard (unofficially as they don't have residential moorings), and anything else is charged at the leisure use tariff. The intensive use tariff is about 20% higher than leisure tariff.

 

At the last marina I was at (briefly) anything over 3 nights/week on average was intensive use. This didn't preclude you spending a week or two on board if you were off work.....as long as you kept within the average.  

Edited December 18, 2021 by booke23

[Detling]

One marina a few years back defined high usage as over 100 nights on board in the marina don't know how they counted but it seems reasonable. If out cruising it obviously didn't count. High use added about 10% to the bill.

[MtB]

It's a euphemism for living aboard.

 

They can't formally advertise liveaboard moorings without having the appropriate planning permission, so the term "high usage" or similar is used instead. 

[Momac]

10 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

It was not unusual to see 'marina based boats' moored up a few 100 yards awayy from the marina entrance, and then back in the next day.

I don't understand why anyone wants a boat but doesn't want to travel anywhere on it but I am grateful to those people for not cluttering the waterways with their craft.

 

[magpie patrick]

Thanks all, especially those who read the question and answered it 😉 

 

There's a mooring round my way that has set it at five nights a month,  and before I assist in challenging that I wanted to know a more typical definition, because at that level it's little more than a boat storage unit. 

[Alan de Enfield]

34 minutes ago, MartynG said:

I don't understand why anyone wants a boat but doesn't want to travel anywhere on it but I am grateful to those people for not cluttering the waterways with their craft.

 

 

Its a cheap way of living and avoids a lot of costs - such as Council tax.

[nicknorman]

43 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Thanks all, especially those who read the question and answered it 😉 

 

There's a mooring round my way that has set it at five nights a month,  and before I assist in challenging that I wanted to know a more typical definition, because at that level it's little more than a boat storage unit. 

5 nights a month does seem extremely low. Fazeley Mill was taken over by ABC leisure last year, and they introduced the “intensive use” concept. I forget the exact definition but it is a lot more than 5 nights/month. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to me because a lot of people at our marina live there permanently, that means they use rubbish disposal, water, Elsan etc a lot more than we do. It doesn’t seem unreasonable that they have to pay a bit more.

[Tony1]

 

2 hours ago, MartynG said:

I don't understand why anyone wants a boat but doesn't want to travel anywhere on it but I am grateful to those people for not cluttering the waterways with their craft.

 

 

I wonder if increasing age is a factor in some cases? I met one or two boaters when I was moored for a few months at a marina in Cheshire last winter, who were frankly a tad slow and unsteady on their feet, and might only think it safe to venture out during warm and dry weather, and even then only for short trips. A guy in a mooring head-on to mine must have been late 70s, and his wife was rarely mobile enough to get out and about with him, but they just loved being on the boat. 

And in some cases, maybe there comes a time when they just agree to stop cruising the boat, but cant bring themselves to move into bricks and mortar?

 

I met an amazing guy about a month ago when travelling from Chester to Middlewich. I think he said he was 75 (but my memory is poor and it could have been older), and he was cruising his boat solo after losing his wife some years ago.  

He had a distinct stoop from a curve in his spine that I think caused him some pain, and was at times a bit uncertain of footing, but he clearly just loved cruising his boat, and in fact he was headed for the Weaver before going back to a Manchester mooring for the winter. 

 

For people in this situation, the end of their cruising days is perhaps starting to loom on the horizon. This particular chap still seemed fairly capable, but who knows- it may not even be 100% certain he will be fit and strong enough to take the boat out next Spring. 

At the time I was getting a bit fed up of the hours of rain, the deep mud, and the wind and chill on the middlewich arm, but this did drive home that I must not take for granted the joys that come with  cruising, and should enjoy every day that I am able to do it.  On that note, tomorrow will be my first cruise on what looks like being a very foggy day (all day), and tbh I think it'll actually be fun.

 

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by Tony1

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

Thanks all, especially those who read the question and answered it 😉 

 

There's a mooring round my way that has set it at five nights a month,  and before I assist in challenging that I wanted to know a more typical definition, because at that level it's little more than a boat storage unit. 

5 nights a month sounds unreasonably low. What if you want to spend every weekend on the boat and stay in the marina? That could be 8 or more days a month.

How do marina rules compare with non-residential pitches on caravan sites where the usage is similar?

[Alan de Enfield]

23 minutes ago, David Mack said:

How do marina rules compare with non-residential pitches on caravan sites where the usage is similar?

 

The planning permission for our Leisure (mobile homes / static caravans)  site states that we must close the site and disconnect the water and electricity for 1 month (we chose 5th Jan to 5th Feb) per annum and no one is allowed on site.

Caravan use is expected to be 'continuous' for the Summer months and much less so for the rest of the year.

[BilgePump]

For a few years I had a small sailing boat berthed at Preston marina. Not CaRT waters but there were NBs on there aswell. They had an intensive-use or what they called 'semi residential' option which was for those spending over 50% of the year on the marina. Just checked on the website and it seems that they stopped new applications for it at the start of 2021 but their fees and some benefits are 

£55 per month for up to four people

Two cars allowed

No electricity standing charge (saves £132/yr), free WiFi, discount on pumpout

Mail and parcels accepted

Not to be used as a registered address

 

If I remember correctly it was a similar charge five years ago and seemed to represent good value for money. One young guy on there was on his own on a 20' yacht. The 24hr onsite showers and toilets were nice and clean and meant he didn't need a bathroom on his boat. Electric hookup meant he didn't need to generate power. Working from his computer, he could be on the boat, in the cafe, sitting in a pub or using a shared workspace in town, anywhere. The paid laundry machines meant he could dress smartly when he needed. The docks are a cool location, and even with the surcharge his monthly fees would have been £120+£55+electricity used+laundry, far less than just a small room in a basic shared house He hadn't turned it into an immobile shantyboat, it was still in good seaworthy shape and properly equipped, so on a sunny day he could sail round the dock or go out onto the Ribble for a change of scenery. Seemed a very sensible accommodation choice for him as a keen boater.

 

There were a variety of people and ages on different boats, some that never moved, and as the semi-residential boats weren't in a separate area, it made for a good community on the pontoons.

[Momac]

12 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

Thanks all, especially those who read the question and answered it 😉 

 

There's a mooring round my way that has set it at five nights a month,  and before I assist in challenging that I wanted to know a more typical definition, because at that level it's little more than a boat storage unit. 

 

 

There must be some good reason for the 5 nights a month restriction at the moorings around your way  . Its their moorings so they can make up whatever rules they wish. Or perhaps there are other legal conditions imposed that are beyond the control of the moorings operator.

 

 

 

[dmr]

Magpie,   I am a bit surprised that you are asking this as I had thought that you were a bit of an expert on canal planning issues.

I confess that I have a vested interest in these things and have spent some time trying to learn about the legalities of leisure vs residential moorings.

 

I suspect the rules set by some marinas are sometimes based on what "somebody else has said" about the legal situation.

 

AdE here in other threads has said that 28days use in any year might be enough to qualify as residential. I have yet to find a source for this.

Most info on the www relates to council tax liability rulings which is probably not quite the same.

6 months continuous use then away for 6 is not liable for council tax.

Full time use then going away for a month is liable (though many caravan sites do this).

Most interesting, if a mooring is used by a residential boat for a while then council tax liability will depend upon whether or not the next boat is likely to e residential (dunno how that one gets enforced).

 

any thoughts?

[MtB]

17 minutes ago, dmr said:

Most interesting, if a mooring is used by a residential boat for a while then council tax liability will depend upon whether or not the next boat is likely to e residential (dunno how that one gets enforced).

 

Another factor I would imagine, is whether the alleged residents of the mooring have another land address where they are entered on the Electoral Roll, or not. 

 

It could be like the tests for self-employment. No one factor makes a boat or a mooring 'residential', but an accumulation of different factors all looked at together, 'in the round'.

 

 

 

 

[Rob-M]

Our mooring conditions allow staying on the boat for up to 120 days a year in the marina.  The are a number of unofficial liveaboards in the marina but I guess they just stay under the radar as there isn't a higher rate and no official residential moorings.

[Alan de Enfield]

46 minutes ago, dmr said:

AdE here in other threads has said that 28days use in any year might be enough to qualify as residential. I have yet to find a source for this.

 

I have posted this document several times and know that MP is fully aware of it, it is however not relevant to his question in this thread, however, to answer your question :

 

I beleive that the question surrounding 'Winter moorings' is very similar to the limiting number of days for Car Boot sales which can only have a certain number of days per annum and must move sites when those days are 'up'.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Alan de Enfield

[MtB]

5 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I have posted this document several times and know that MP is fully aware of it, it is however not relevant to his question in this thread, however, to answer your question :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeahbutnobut that is just a load of text on a screen. You could have written it yourself.

 

What is the source please? I can't see it mentioned anywhere within the document.

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

What is the source please? I can't see it mentioned anywhere within the document.

 

 

It is intended to guide local planning authorities in formulating policy and in their decision-making. The document also seeks to inform residential boaters and providers of moorings on the existing regulatory framework, consents required and the key policy issues.

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Alan de Enfield

[TheBiscuits]

2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

It is intended to guide local planning authorities in formulating policy and in their decision-making. The document also seeks to inform residential boaters and providers of moorings on the existing regulatory framework, consents required and the key policy issues.

 

 

That's a quote from the introduction not the source of it.

 

 

https://aina.org.uk/aina-reports/ 

 

It's the eighth one on the list at time of posting, "Residential Use of Inland Waterways – An Advisory Document"

 

https://aina.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/RUIW-Feb11.pdf