ABC marina mooring - residential permission?

[Ewan123]

Looking at ABC's mooring agreement, it appears that a mooring might be permitted residential use with the written consent of ABC, I.e. they don't rule it out entirely.

 

Has anyone had experience of asking ABC for this permission? Their Extended Stay charge almost seems like a wink/nudge arrangement, but that seems unlikely to me, with them such a widespread and well known marina group.

 

I ask because we might be looking for a year's worth of mooring soon and a couple of theirs are high on the list of preference at the moment. We live on the boat, though would go out fairly regularly and wewould still have post etc. going to family - maybe that would be enough for us to fit into the "Extended Stay" category 🤔

[Mike Tee]

That will cover it.

[MrFish]

Your best bet is to visit the marina and have an honest chat with the marina manager and speak to some of the residents.  From my experience of one of the ABC marinas I am currently located at there are quite a few unofficial permanent residents yhat the marina know about and turn a blind eye to.

[blackrose]

You need to make a mental distinction between a residential mooring and unofficially living on a long term mooring. It's unlikely that ABC can just give permission for the former as that involves planning permission and the council, so what you're probably talking about is the latter.

 

In which case try to avoid using the term "residential" especially when speaking to the marina manager as it will make him/her wince. Also avoid referring to the boat or mooring as your home. It's a grey area and they will appreciate your discretion. 

 

Many marinas and moorings allow unofficial liveaboards but most have rules about not having post delivered and require a separate residential address on the contract. Some marinas now have their own workaround policies in place for unofficial liveaboards including a requirement to move for a month per year, or swapping moorings with other boats in the marina in order to comply with council rules. It sounds like ABC's "extended stay" category is an example of this, so when you speak to them just explain your situation and prospective boat movements and ask if you can have a mooring in the extended stay category.

Edited December 12, 2023 by blackrose

[Ewan123]

On 11/12/2023 at 20:44, MrFish said:

Your best bet is to visit the marina and have an honest chat with the marina manager and speak to some of the residents.  From my experience of one of the ABC marinas I am currently located at there are quite a few unofficial permanent residents yhat the marina know about and turn a blind eye to.

That's my plan, we'll be cruising past in the next few weeks anyway 👍

On 12/12/2023 at 03:29, blackrose said:

 It's unlikely that ABC can just give permission for the former as that involves planning permission and the council, so what you're probably talking about is the latter.

That's what I thought, so it struck me as odd that they have that stated on the document.

 

Thanks for your advice. We are only intending it to be temporary (one year max) and will certainly be going out for a few weeks at a time (can barely stand getting stuck in the same place for 3 weeks at the moment!) so I don't feel we're trying to be too cheeky.

[Belle]

11 hours ago, Ewan123 said:

 

 

👍That's what I thought, so it struck me as odd that they have that stated on the document.

 

Some berths are pre allocated as residential. I think Gayton has about 6

11 hours ago, Ewan123 said:

Thanks for your advice. We are only intending it to be temporary (one year max) and will certainly be going out for a few weeks at a time (can barely stand getting stuck in the same place for 3 weeks at the moment!) so I don't feel we're trying to be too cheeky.

I'm sure this will be fine with the high usage uplift. It's exactly what we did and had no problems 👍😁

[Yank on the Cut]

On 12/12/2023 at 03:29, blackrose said:

You need to make a mental distinction between a residential mooring and unofficially living on a long term mooring. It's unlikely that ABC can just give permission for the former as that involves planning permission and the council, so what you're probably talking about is the latter.

 

In which case try to avoid using the term "residential" especially when speaking to the marina manager as it will make him/her wince. Also avoid referring to the boat or mooring as your home. It's a grey area and they will appreciate your discretion. 

 

Many marinas and moorings allow unofficial liveaboards but most have rules about not having post delivered and require a separate residential address on the contract. Some marinas now have their own workaround policies in place for unofficial liveaboards including a requirement to move for a month per year, or swapping moorings with other boats in the marina in order to comply with council rules. It sounds like ABC's "extended stay" category is an example of this, so when you speak to them just explain your situation and prospective boat movements and ask if you can have a mooring in the extended stay category.

The swapping moorings with other boats you refer to is done in marinas with local authority approved residential moorings to avoid residents being required to pay full council tax. By moving berths it shows the marina is in paramount control of the berth, the berths thus forming a composite hereditament attracting business rates rather than council tax, saving boaters about £1000 a year.  The rules are set by the VOA and enforced by the local authority. Marinas without residential planning permission may still require the boats to similarly move in order to 'muddy the waters'.