The Value of a Residential Mooring

[Tam & Di]

How much does a residential mooring add to the sale value of a boat? I have in mind a 70' x 12' widebeam in london or the lower G.U.

[PeterScott]

Is the tenancy transferrable to a new owner? Automatically??  For a fee?? ... at the discretion of the landlrd?

landlord (hmmm)

[Tam & Di]

At the place I have in mind the boat may be sold, but subject to the site owner's acceptance of the potential buyer's credentials and there is a fee.

Edited January 31 by Tam & Di

[Bacchus]

I would imagine it depends exactly where. An "affordable" mooring one of the "genteel" bits of the London GU like little Venice it could command quite a hefty premium. A mooring that costs as much to rent as a flat somewhere less salubrious, possibly not very much at all. 

A 70'x12' wide-beam sounds more "alternative to a flat" than an actual boat, so I am assuming the former, and the right to moor and live could easily be as valuable as the actual boat.

[MtB]

3 hours ago, Tam & Di said:

How much does a residential mooring add to the sale value of a boat? I have in mind a 70' x 12' widebeam in london or the lower G.U.

 

Well from a marine mortgage lender's point of view, nothing at all. But in reality, people do tend to be willing to pay more for a boat on a legitimate resi mooring even when there is no security of tenure, as it is in both the boater's and the landlord's interest not to bring the tenancy to a close. 

 

I'd suggest with many boats perhaps one third to one half more than the value of the bare boat if the mooring is nice, well managed, has parking etc. 

 

On the other hand a monster fattie that size has to be hard to value without a mooring as it is such a PITA to cruise. And on the other, other hand there are also people out there hopelessly badly informed who will pay massively over the odds when the mooring is nice, not grasping the point about no security of tenure. 

 

So in summary, I don't know. 

 

 

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

 

Presumably you will still have the £10,000-£15,000 per annum rent to pay ?

 

Personally I'm not sure that the mooring adds anything to the purchase price of the boat - unless there are no other residential moorings to be found in the area you want to be in.

If you can find an alternative mooring then you just take your (any) boat and pay the annual rent - you don't have to pay a premium to 'move in'

 

If the price of the boat you are looking at is above the market rate, for that type of boat I'd be hesitant about paying for something that actually has little value - UNLESS you really, really want to be in that area and there are no other moorings available within a reasonable distance - in which case only you can decide what premium is acceptable to you.

 

Presumably the seller of the boat will get this extra 'mark up'  - why should he ?

[ditchcrawler]

I just wonder if the OP is looking at this from a sellers point of view 

[Ex Brummie]

The Agenda 21 moorings at Oxford give all sorts of reassurance to the owner and is transferable, I understand, but I'm unsure as to whether it is specific to the craft and not the site.

I'm not awareof any other such sites

[MtB]

15 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

The Agenda 21 moorings at Oxford give all sorts of reassurance to the owner and is transferable, I understand, but I'm unsure as to whether it is specific to the craft and not the site.

I'm not awareof any other such sites

 

Specific to the tenant and the plot, AIUI. The tenant can put whatever boat they like on it and transfer their tenancy AIUI. 

 

The odd thing is how some boats on the A21 moorings sell for pretty much boat value with virtually no premium. Others sell for a massive uplift. This leads me to think some moorings there are a lot less desirable than others.

 

 

 

 

 

[blackrose]

Nobody can really answer this question. The amount that the mooring will add to the value of the boat is whatever the market will bear.

[junior]

Saw a residential mooring at Brentford for sale on Apollo Duck last night for £375,000 or something like that. Freehold land with no additional mooring fees.

 

I guess there is too many variables for there to be one 'correct' answer.

[Tacet]

On 01/02/2026 at 05:27, blackrose said:

Nobody can really answer this question. The amount that the mooring will add to the value of the boat is whatever the market will bear.

The value of anything tangible is what the market will bear, so it seems odd to single out a mooring as being incapable of estimation.

[Orwellian]

That's correct. But not everything is easy to value and depends largely on access to accurate market evidence of actual transactions. We have got used to Zoopla & Righmove providing this to everyone for traditional house prices. The value of residential moorings is rather more difficult as there is a seperation between the residentail unit - the boat and the place to keep it for access to land. Also the market is relatively small.

[Wafi]

On 02/02/2026 at 10:00, junior said:

Saw a residential mooring at Brentford for sale on Apollo Duck last night for £375,000 or something like that. Freehold land with no additional mooring fees.

Wowzers! That's almost exactly the amount I paid in 2007 for a 3-bed house overlooking the flood plain adjacent to Eel Pie Island! No mooring, but I did keep a boat on the driveway...

[cheesegas]

1 hour ago, Wafi said:

Wowzers! That's almost exactly the amount I paid in 2007 for a 3-bed house overlooking the flood plain adjacent to Eel Pie Island! No mooring, but I did keep a boat on the driveway...

Almost 20 years later, that would only cost you £700k for a mid terrace or nearly £1.5m for an end terrace. Neither have a driveway for a boat either!

[Peanut]

About twenty years ago, a houseboat including a freehold residential mooring in Shoreham, went for ~£350k, now one, also freehold, just off the Swale, is up for £600k. Very different to narrow boats, though.

The location, and whether the mooring is freehold or leased, might make a difference in value, and if leased, whether it is transferable, the terms of the lease and what the annual rent is.

[MtB]

3 hours ago, Orwellian said:

That's correct. But not everything is easy to value and depends largely on access to accurate market evidence of actual transactions. We have got used to Zoopla & Righmove providing this to everyone for traditional house prices. The value of residential moorings is rather more difficult as there is a seperation between the residentail unit - the boat and the place to keep it for access to land. Also the market is relatively small.

 

You seem to be overlooking the probability that the mooring is rented and we are not being told what the rent is. So how would one value that? 

 

Yes a valuation agent would say the value with no security of tenure is zero but a boat on a rented residential mooring still looks a more attractive proposition than a boat on the towpath, so there must be some value involved, which is what the OP is asking. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

29 minutes ago, MtB said:

You seem to be overlooking the probability that the mooring is rented

 

It seems to be pretty obvious as the mooring owner has to approve the boat owner before they are allowed the mooring.

 

 

On 31/01/2026 at 10:35, Tam & Di said:

At the place I have in mind the boat may be sold, but subject to the site owner's acceptance of the potential buyer's credentials and there is a fee.