A Variation On Cheap Narrowboat Living In London

[nine9feet]

"Living in London usually costs a fortune - but not for teenager Charlotte Tindle.

Instead of paying for pricey digs, the 18-year-old student will spend her three years at university in the capital living on a narrowboat.

Charlotte, of Syston, and her family have refurbished a six-bed narrowboat, making it into a comfortable home for her to live in while she studies for her degree.

The trio set off tomorrow on the 160-mile journey from Leicester Marina, in Thurmaston, to London, which they expect to take nine to 10 days."

 

Read more at http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Leicester-student-avoids-massive-rental-bills/story-22893731-detail/story.html#DP7ETdoufRRfvZta.99

 

At first I thought it was expected to be cheap because she would be ccing. But then I read this :

 

“I would be more worried about Charlotte in a bedsit in a dodgy area of London on her own than living in a lovely marina."

I wonder where this lovely (cheap) marina is in London?

:-)

 

[Grace and Favour]

"Once the party has arrived in London, Charlotte’s mum and dad will stay with her until she has found a mooring spot in a marina. They will then return home to Leicestershire."

 

They may be with her for a while, then?

[Ray T]

She said the boat was “a lot cheaper than finding a flat in London, with a lot more space”.

“We looked at private university halls and they’re £250 per week, which is £1,000 per month. It’s too much

 

Interesting article here: http://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/floating-assets-what-should-you-know-before-you-take-the-plunge-and-buy-a-house-boat-2022216.html

 

Moorings

There are plenty of informal moorings but not many designated as "residential" and eligible for permanent houseboats.

The best have mains water, electricity, pumped drainage, telephone landlines, satellite television, Wi-Fi and even parking spaces. But you pay dearly, especially in southern England. Good moorings near central London cost £1,000 a month while more basic ones on the Thames are £250, and outside the capital £120

Edited September 8, 2014 by Ray T

[StarUKKiwi]

Oh dear

[magnetman]

Lol

[Lady Muck]

"Once the party has arrived in London, Charlotte’s mum and dad will stay with her until she has found a mooring spot in a marina. They will then return home to Leicestershire."

 

They may be with her for a while, then?

.

 

Judging by how long it took my friend to get a mooring near me, (bidding on every auction, very high budget), about five years?

[frangar]

We encountered another young chap taking a boat to london last night at great Haywood......he was just entering the lock when we went to the pub and he was still there as we walked back some time later...we suggested that he would make better progress with at least one set of paddles shut....thankfully that's quite a long pound!....we half expected to find him sunk somewhere this morning but he seemed to still be floating....we and a few other boaters explained how locks worked again....he almost had the hang of it by the bottom of Fradley....it's all a bit scary how many people are buying boats to live on with no idea of the basics let alone finding a mooring!

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[Southern Star]

"Once the party has arrived in London, Charlotte’s mum and dad will stay with her until she has found a mooring spot in a marina. They will then return home to Leicestershire."

 

They may be with her for a while, then?

Exactly what I thought when I got to that line. It did seem to me that the whole idea was being done for dad's vicarious enjoyment.

[Peter X]

Dad's quote at the end of the article was a bit disturbing:

“I have stuck a couple of Leicester Foxes on the front of the boat for good luck.”

I'm sure that sounds worse than it is.

I think we should welcome this family as breaking a few boat-to-London stereotypes; they didn't buy the boat at Whilton, they all seem to have a genuine enthusiasm for boating, they plan to moor in a marina. I see this panning out in one of two ways when they find out the prices of marina berths near London:

(1) If young Charlotte's university is sort of commutable from one of the relatively cheaper residential moorings within the M25, Dad puts his hand in his wallet and she lives there and spends quite a bit of time on buses/tube/etc. and money on her Oystercard.

(2) Dad likes the boating life so much that he and Mum stay in the Hotel of Daughter, moving the boat slowly around from one of these new-fangled CRT places to another during term and doing a trip away from London for each holiday to help them stay off the enforcement radar. While Charlotte still spends a fair bit of time on wonderful London Transport and finds her student lifestyle opportunities a bit limited, Mum and Dad are living the boating dream.

It would be fascinating to hear how the Tindle family get on with this project...

[Arthur Brown]

When I went to uni the LAST thing I wanted was mum and dad with me.

 

Student life OR living with Mum and Dad.

[DeanS]

A lot of kids go to Uni because of a student loan, which is normally based on the cost of the Uni AND the cost of residence at Uni. So it would actually be cheaper for her to stay in a Uni residence, than have to pay privately for a marina mooring. Doesn't quite make sense. My son's just moved into a Uni residence, and (because of the student loan), I'm not personally having to pay anything out of my own pocket.

[nbfiresprite]

When I went to UMIST in the late eighty's. Me and my girlfriend at the time, had a mooring at Worsley on the Bridgewater. And cycled in to classes or lab-time when required. But then this was back in the day when we had grants and moorings were cheap.

[Arthur Brown]

Yes I suspect that student life has changed! I got all my living and studies out of the grant and also had enough spare to run a car, do scuba diving and get a PPL.

[mark99]

My old company paid me a full salary to go to Uni (4 years), paid for books, food allowance, all accomodation, travel home and a guaranteed job at the end of it.

 

Mind you this was in the bad old days.

[Higgs]

I hope Chorlotte is doing an Economics degree.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Higgs

[WJM]

Just the mooring and boat license alone will be around a £1000 per month in London. Although it is a very jolly article, they do seem to be horribly under-reserched. She wont find a mooring anywhere near Fulham so already commuting costs have outweighed a conveniently local flat or halls. But if they get enjoyment out of it then good luck to them.

 

CaRT are definitely closing in on the pretend cruisers in London. On my last trip I was struck by how much the mooring situation has improved for genuine boaters. The days of buying a cheap hulk up north and living under the moorings radar are ending - mainly due to the excessive numbers that are trying to get away with it.

[Lady Muck]

She could go in Roydon or Willowtree or somewhere like that quite easily but the travelcard and mooring would be pushing £1000 a month as they are not really in London. And WJM it's busier than ever where we are, won't be long before it's double moored I reckon.

[Peter X]

By way of comparison, a self-contained small flat in one of the cheaper suburbs can be had for about £600pm plus the usual bills.

So if she found one for example in the West Croydon area, and used a zones 3 & 4 travelcard on Tramlink and the District Line to reach East Putney then walked the last bit into zone 2 (or coughed up a bit more to include zone 2), that would be significantly cheaper than the £1000pm quoted for either a mooring on the Lee (far side of London, equal or greater travelling time and cost to Fulham I think) or a more local bedsit.

 

However an important part of being a student is to hang out with other students, so if a student residence is available in Fulham at the bargain price (for Fulham) of £1000pm that would be the option most would go for.

 

I think what it boils down to is that if someone wants to work or study in central London, the most cost-effective way is usually to pick the right suburb according to where they need to reach, and put up with commuting about 30-60 minutes each way.

[Jim Batty]

... Instead of paying for pricey digs, the 18-year-old student will spend her three years at university in the capital living on a narrowboat.

 

 

I don't know ... I guess my heart sinks a bit when I hear of people moving onto boats as a 'cheap' alternative to living on land ... rather than real enthusiasm for living on a boat.

 

The lifestyle and community have so much more to offer than a floating bedsit.

 

Then again, anybody who doesn't really love it probably won't last more than one winter!

[Lady Muck]

By way of comparison, a self-contained small flat in one of the cheaper suburbs can be had for about £600pm plus the usual bills.

So if she found one for example in the West Croydon area, and used a zones 3 & 4 travelcard on Tramlink and the District Line to reach East Putney then walked the last bit into zone 2 (or coughed up a bit more to include zone 2), that would be significantly cheaper than the £1000pm quoted for either a mooring on the Lee (far side of London, equal or greater travelling time and cost to Fulham I think) or a more local bedsit.

 

However an important part of being a student is to hang out with other students, so if a student residence is available in Fulham at the bargain price (for Fulham) of £1000pm that would be the option most would go for.

 

I think what it boils down to is that if someone wants to work or study in central London, the most cost-effective way is usually to pick the right suburb according to where they need to reach, and put up with commuting about 30-60 minutes each way.

£600? Are you sure? That's room price, not apartment price even in the suburbs, now. Might've been the case two years ago, but our friends who live in Cambodia and come here to work each summer are reporting £200/£300 price hikes each time they return. And then there's the travel costs.

[Peter X]

£600? Are you sure? That's room price, not apartment price even in the suburbs, now. Might've been the case two years ago, but our friends who live in Cambodia and come here to work each summer are reporting £200/£300 price hikes each time they return. And then there's the travel costs.

 

I am sure, here's a self contained unfurnished studio flat with its own kitchen and shower room, looks in decent condition, £520 per month in Wallington, quite a nice area, just over a mile from Waddon Marsh Tramlink:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-47910758.html

Granted, there's not a lot available under 600 per month, but it is possible in some of the less trendy suburbs. Bedsits in shared houses are of course cheaper.

My annual zones 3 and 4 travelcard, which includes all of Croydon Tramlink plus buses in zones 1 to 6, works out at about £80 per month, which is a pretty good deal. For people who commute into zone 1 on rush-hour trains travel costs are indeed higher.

[Peter X]

PS: Looking again at the photos on that particular flat, it's obviously a back garden development and probably has less floor space than a narrowboat and not much natural light. But it is a clean self-contained flat.

[cotswoldsman]

I think they will soon realise that her best option is to become a continuous cruiser. As a Student she will have loads of time to move the boat. I am sure it won't take her long to find another student to share the boat at say £400 PM so she could even get a contribution towards living costs. I wish her all the best I feel sure other boaters in London will soon help her adapt to her new lifestyle

[peterboat]

I think they will soon realise that her best option is to become a continuous cruiser. As a Student she will have loads of time to move the boat. I am sure it won't take her long to find another student to share the boat at say £400 PM so she could even get a contribution towards living costs. I wish her all the best I feel sure other boaters in London will soon help her adapt to her new lifestyle

Ditto. Traveling home is taken care of too

 

Peter

[Lady Muck]

I think they will soon realise that her best option is to become a continuous cruiser. As a Student she will have loads of time to move the boat. I am sure it won't take her long to find another student to share the boat at say £400 PM so she could even get a contribution towards living costs. I wish her all the best I feel sure other boaters in London will soon help her adapt to her new lifestyle

She will not be the only student that's for sure.