Best area to be based in while looking for Narrowboat

[Naartjie - Duck Hatch]

Nubies that need help!

My wife & I are moving to the UK in March/April with the intention of buying a Narrowboat. We would like to have a base from which to start our quest. Which area would be best w.r.t accommodation (Rented Room), public transport and proximity to boat yards.

 

Naartjie Tree

 

 

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Welcome to the forum.

The area with the highest concentration of boat yards selling boats is around the Midlands, in a radius around Braunston. Up to Nottingham, west to the outskirts of Birmingham, down towards Milton Keynes. Anywhere in that blob would be a good place to base yourself. Public transport unfortunately will vary from adequote to non-existent. It is usable in big towns and cities, but small villages and out of the way boat yards will be tricky to get to and probably need a taxi for the last miles. Loath as I am to suggest this, it will be much easier with a car. Makes the difference between it taking an entire day with multiple modes of transport of unknown reliability to visit a site, to a few hours. How many transport workers will be on strike come March/April is an unknown.

Good luck with your search.

[Naartjie - Duck Hatch]

Thanks so much for your advice, a car might have to be factored into our budget.

[john6767]

I would agree with the suggested area, you will be able to hit multiple brokers in a day, but as suggested you will need to have a car.  If you hired a car and stayed at a travel lodge type hotel (there are a number close to the M1) you could cover a lot if ground over a few days.  That I would think move your thinking as to what you are looking for from a boat forward a lot in a short time.

[Stilllearning]

Depending on your budget, a motor home might be a good way of getting around.

[Kudzucraft]

Very interesting question. Wife and I want to do the same thing in about 2 more years.

 

When I started looking a couple of years ago I looked at long term car rentals and found a couple of places that rented by the month and the rates were not bad. Much less than the daily/weekly rentals. Been a while and I didn't save that information, but that is what we have in mind once we finally can get serious.I would think an car would be a must to get around. Good deals don't last long and I think the flexibility a car gives would be worth the cost.

 

 

[sueb]

We have stayed at Wigrams holiday cottage at Wigrams turn but you will need transport

[Naartjie - Duck Hatch]

With our limited  budget a cheap camper van maybe the way to go, prices seem to be around £100 a day.

[Tracy D'arth]

3 hours ago, Naartjie said:

With our limited  budget a cheap camper van maybe the way to go, prices seem to be around £100 a day.

Is there now such a thing in the UK? Prices of any motorhomes/campers have rocketed in the last 2 years.

Buy a banger may be a way forward. 

[Mike Hurley]

You will need a UK address for insurance and driving license.

[Momac]

 

https://www.enterprise.co.uk/en/help/faqs/drivers-licence-requirements-uk-ireland.html

[MtB]

On 31/12/2022 at 05:49, Naartjie said:

My wife & I are moving to the UK in March/April with the intention of buying a Narrowboat.

 

Given the difficulties now highlighted with addresses and hiring a vehicle, are you intending your boat to be your home when you move here? Or will you have a land address too? 

[mrsmelly]

19 minutes ago, MartynG said:

 

https://www.enterprise.co.uk/en/help/faqs/drivers-licence-requirements-uk-ireland.html

My daughter is here as I type and I ve just read her this. She returned from a holiday day before yesterday from austria, she rented a car whilst over there, zero problem, just as easy as when we were club members over there. She has 3/4 hols in europe every year with zero problems hiring a car each time. People from other countries hire here on a daily basis without a UK address whilst on holiday.

[Mike Hurley]

Hiring is easy, buying something if you have no address wont work for a vehicle, boat could be different.

[twbm]

5 hours ago, Naartjie said:

With our limited  budget a cheap camper van maybe the way to go, prices seem to be around £100 a day.

 

There are very few 'cheap' camper vans that would suit your purpose I suspect, their value went waay up in 2020 and hasn'r really come down yet. If you buy a liveable one, aside from the registration issues mentioned, you'd probably have to sell it before you could buy the boat, and risk losing more money than you'll spend on hotel rooms. Note too that the UK isn't particularly motorhome friendly - you can't just park up in a layby overnight without the risk of being moved on and the availablility of fresh and waste water facilities is limited to sites that you have to pay to be on. They're cheaper than hotels, but can still be £25 and more per night. 

 

The Trivago website is a good place to look for room prices as it searches a lot of other booking sites like Hotels.com, Booking.com AirBnB and Vrbo.  There are rooms in the likes of the Ibis chain near Rugby for around £60 a night. 

 

Might be worth doing a lot of the legwork on line via the ApolloDuck (or another broker's) website - it'll be a lot more efficient to arrive with a list of a dozen boats to look at at known locations. Factor in time for surveys etc.   

Edited January 1, 2023 by twbm

[roland elsdon]

We hired for years in uk with australian licence. Not a problem.

As a citizen but resident elsewhere you are not a resident until you declare yourself to be one, or end up resident by default 183 days. ( As happened to us because of covid.) You then need a uk licence.

Owning a car as a non resident is a whole new bag of crap. We did it at one point very expensive.

[peterboat]

25 minutes ago, twbm said:

 

There are very few 'cheap' camper vans that would suit your purpose I suspect, their value went waay up in 2020 and hasn'r really come down yet. If you buy a liveable one, aside from the registration issues mentioned, you'd probably have to sell it before you could buy the boat, and risk losing more money than you'll spend on hotel rooms. Note too that the UK isn't particularly motorhome friendly - you can't just park up in a layby overnight without the risk of being moved on and the availablility of fresh and waste water facilities is limited to sites that you have to pay to be on. They're cheaper than hotels, but can still be £25 and more per night. 

 

The Trivago website is a good place to look for room prices as it searches a lot of other booking sites like Hotels.com, Booking.com AirBnB and Vrbo.  There are rooms in the likes of the Ibis chain near Rugby for around £60 a night. 

 

Might be worth doing a lot of the legwork on line via the ApolloDuck (or another broker's) website - it'll be a lot more efficient to arrive with a list of a dozen boats to look at at known locations. Factor in time for surveys etc.   

Not true we go to pubs with our campervan park for the night for free, there's a book for it and an app I believe?

[Momac]

Perhaps the OP is not a UK citizen and visiting temporarily so will not be in a position to buy a vehicle but will be able to hire .

I am guessing the OP realises a valid driving license is required. 

Campervans have increased in value but they remain available for hire.

I would say hire vehicles are in great demand. We tried to hire a car at short notice for work the other week and failed.  So booking well in advance is essential.

 

 

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

People from other countries hire here on a daily basis without a UK address whilst on holiday.

I found that while my american daughter in law's family could easily hire a car here, we could not get insurance to allow them to drive our cars while visiting.

[blackrose]

2 hours ago, Mike Hurley said:

You will need a UK address for insurance and driving license.

 

You can drive in the UK on a non-GB foreign driving licence for up to 12 months and if he's hiring rather than buying a vehicle he won't necessarily need a UK address for insurance purposes.

 

[Mike Hurley]

23 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

You can drive in the UK on a non-GB foreign driving licence for up to 12 months and if he's hiring rather than buying a vehicle he won't necessarily need a UK address for insurance purposes.

 

For hiring, correct, he would have a problem buying a camper though.

[Alan de Enfield]

21 minutes ago, Mike Hurley said:

For hiring, correct, he would have a problem buying a camper though.

 

I doubt he'd have any problem at all buying any vehicle 1000s advertised in autotrader, gumtree etc. Just turn up and hand over the cash.

 

When buying a vehicle I have never been asked to prove either my nationality, country of residence, or even if I have a driving licence.

 

The problem would come when he tries to insure it.

[Naartjie - Duck Hatch]

2 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Given the difficulties now highlighted with addresses and hiring a vehicle, are you intending your boat to be your home when you move here? Or will you have a land address too? 

We plan on making the boat our home. Also have family in UK.

 

 

 

[Naartjie - Duck Hatch]

5 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Is there now such a thing in the UK? Prices of any motorhomes/campers have rocketed in the last 2 years.

Buy a banger may be a way forward. 

https://www.camperbug.co.uk/campervan/england

I found this site listing cheap camper vans

Edited January 1, 2023 by Naartjie

[Mike Hurley]

49 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I doubt he'd have any problem at all buying any vehicle 1000s advertised in autotrader, gumtree etc. Just turn up and hand over the cash.

 

When buying a vehicle I have never been asked to prove either my nationality, country of residence, or even if I have a driving licence.

 

The problem would come when he tries to insure it.

So what would you put on address of new keeper section? You cant leave it blank.