LIving on a narrowboat in a marina.

[DavidUK]

Hello everyone,

 

Reading through these boards I have more than once come across the advice to 'not mention that you'll be living onboard as your main residence' or words to that effect. I must admit to being somewhat confused. I was under the perhaps mistaken assumption that if you paid for a mooring in a marina that you would be perfectly free to live aboard should you wish. Maybe some marinas allow this and others not? If anyone could clarify this one way or another I would appreciate it.

 

NB I was hoping to obtain a mooring within the next few years in the Ely area of Cambridgeshire.

 

Many thanks

[blackrose]

Hello everyone,

 

Reading through these boards I have more than once come across the advice to 'not mention that you'll be living onboard as your main residence' or words to that effect. I must admit to being somewhat confused. I was under the perhaps mistaken assumption that if you paid for a mooring in a marina that you would be perfectly free to live aboard should you wish. Maybe some marinas allow this and others not? If anyone could clarify this one way or another I would appreciate it.

 

NB I was hoping to obtain a mooring within the next few years in the Ely area of Cambridgeshire.

 

Many thanks

 

Long-term and residential moorings are two different things. Residential means what it says and you will probably pay a premium for this plus council tax, but you can probably expect a parking space somewhere, a post box, etc. A long-term mooring means that you are paying only to leave your boat there long-term, but since it doesn't have residential planning permission from the council, strictly speaking you are not allowed to live onboard full-time.

 

How strictly the particular mooring or marina enforces the rules will vary depending on the particular mooring authority. I hear the National Trust are very strict, while my own experience of BW's are 4 days/week rule is that they will generally turn a blind eye and only enforce it if you breach other rules and generally become a pain in the arse to them and your fellow moorers. However, if you live on a BW long term mooring you will need a residential address and you probably shouldn't refer to your boat as your home for your sake as well as theirs. It's the unspoken word... They know what your doing and they go along with it because it's half of their business, but some people who live like this insist on demanding their rights, apparently not realising that they actually have very few,

Edited August 23, 2011 by blackrose

[Dekazer]

Others will be along to expand on the whys and wherefores, but it boils down to what the marina have permission to let you do. Local authorities - the council - have to approve a site for residential use. If a marina doesn't have residential permissions, the owner/management aren't allowed to permit living aboard.

 

In practice you will find that some marinas enforce the rules strictly, others barely enforce them at all. You can find official residential moorings (I live on one) which are more expensive but mean that you can register to vote, use the address for your driving licence, register at a doctors, all using that address. I suspect, if it came to a matter of law, you might find you had a more secure leg to stand on...

 

If, however, you are determined to liveaboad your boat with a leisure mooring, your experience would be affected by the attitude of the marina owner/manager, your own behaviour (how often you and/or the boat were away from the marina) and whether or not you had a 'shore-based' address you could use for officialdom.

 

As I said, others will be along soon to add more detail, but this might give you a few hints..

[Midnight Rider]

As one of those who have said 'Don't mention Residential or Live Aboard' I agree with the above posts.

 

When you take on a mooring, you will get their terms & conditions & I would guess that they will all say that you have a 'leisure mooring' --- unless you can find one of the few that has planning permission for residential.

 

There does however seem to be a lot of people living on leisure moorings & even having their post sent there, using the address for the doctors & claiming benefits.

 

The downside is that if you have a disagreement with the owner/manager, you may find yourself shown the marina entrance at very short notice.

 

ETA --- I notice that this is my last post as a member, my member(ship) wiil soon be long standing.

Edited August 23, 2011 by Midnight Rider

[Guest wanted]

Yep to the above, I live on a res bw mooring and am surrounded by leisureboards mike is right, head down, don't upset the apple cart and be nice to the people who have a letter box, I must have 6 tv licences now, crazy fools!

[MtB]

We went through all this recently.

 

Local councils turn a blind eye to the abuse of non-residential moorings by liveaboards mainly because if they served a shedload of enforcement notices, the local council would become responsible for providing alternative accommodation for the people made homeless.

[AndrewBB]

I think it depends on the marina some do turn a blind eye whilst some get booted out.

[bridgit]

Some marina owners charge lots extra to turn a blind eye.