Owning your own home

I see you've reached the full-bonkers stage of house hunting.

Seems that way, doesn't it? Useful to have @ioreka around for a dose of realism :)

We did what you are talking about doing, but not in London. It got us out of a flat we could barely afford and into a position where we had spare cash to save and are now in the process of buying a house.

Do houseboats appreciate or depreciate in value? What are the other costs? How the fuck do you finance a houseboat - surely you can't get a regular mortgage.

Generally boats depreciate in value over time. However you're in London and property the market is stupid so you could make money but I wouldn't count on it. Your profits will come from reduced living costs (no mortgage/rent, cheaper gas, no elec bill) but there are costs associated with living on a boat and it's not the fairytale everyone thinks it is.
You can get marine mortgages. I don't know much about them but I know they exist.
You need to consider:
*Moorings - Residential moornings are like hen's teeth and many moorings don't allow people to live aboard. Moorings are often several hundred pounds a month. They can be worth it if you get an electric hookup/tiolet disposal/water/etc
*Cruising - if you're not going to have a permanent mooring then you'll be a "continuous cruiser". This is what we do, there are plus points but you need to move AT LEAST every 14 days.
*Electricity - if you don't have a hookup then you'll be running all your electronics from leisure batteries. Some people have a big TV, xbox etc on their boat but it generally means running your engine to charge your batteries whilst you use those things.
*Gas - you'll be using LPG from a bottle, lots of places sell it but you have to deal with the logistics of getting it onto the boat when a bottle needs changing over
*Space - obvious really but you'll be living in what is essentially a corridoor (assuming you're talking about a narrowboat). If you have lots of stuff you'll either need to get rid or put it in storage. If you want people to be able to stay then you need to get a boat big enough to have somewhere for them to sleep too.
*Shit - What are you going to do with your poo and can you handle having to deal with raw sewage every other week? We have a porta potti, some people have a pump-out system. There are pros and cons to both.

There's loads more to think about but those are the main things. I've owned a boat for about 5 years and been living aboard for the past 2.5. Feel free to PM if you have any more questions.

Also as someone else said @Jacqui used to live aboard too.

You would also need to factor in your commute which would change every 2 weeks.

This is actually something I quite like about the CC life!

I can share some blame, your mum is crazy in a good way.

Most things have been covered and this may be stating the bleeding obvious but have you ever been on a narrow boat? My mum lived on a barge and it was brilliant but having lots of friends with narrow boats and spending lots of time in them I know I couldn't live on one, I'd definitely recommend visiting a few and even hiring one for a weekend before you even consider it.

your mum is crazy in a good way.

She is - I love her for it.

Overwhelming response - this is a lot to mull over. Thanks all.

M&D are coming to visit at the beginning of September. They were deliberating over hotels, but @So_Gewürzt_it_hurtz raises an excellent point. I've only briefly visited narrow boats for a few hours - I've suggested we rent a boat for the weekend and see what it's like.

I would have thought the same thing however the exact same flat 2 doors down from us is doing a loft conversion as we speak. Once it's done we are going over for a look around (and to find out the costs).

Thanks for that.

The main differences are that they only have 1 bedroom, and we are end of terrace so would require a hip to gable extension.

No doubt this will cause problems with the planning and cost us more money.

A bit late to catching up on this thread.. happy to make some Surbiton pointers.
It might be in the 'burbs but you can get into Central quicker than most people in zones 2-5. The bike commute into town is pretty ace too, Richmond Park and follow the Thames, beware the deer and mamils.

If, having considered all the aforementioned pros and (very sensible) cons to all this, I find myself still wanting to do it, is finding and buying a boat with a mooring license a viable 'dip my toe in the water for a year' trial solution?

Mooring in a convenient London location would (cost-wise) basically be like paying rent for another year.

If I hate it, I sell up and go back into the rental market, safe in the knowledge that I won't be trying it again.

If I love it, I do the Continuous Cruising thing after a year of cushy marina life.

Suppose it's risky if the boat doesn't sell/sinks and suddenly I've blown the capital I spend on the boat. Also appreciate finding a suitable residential mooring could be difficult.

Weirdly I got into work this morning and, apropos of nothing, the topic of conversation was the 2-bed yacht that my colleague rents near Limehouse!

Suspect his lifestyle is quite different to what we're discussing here...

Have a look at moorings here;
https://www.watersidemooring.com/Search?DistanceMiles=0&Coordinates=55.3781%2C-3.436&tab=&Availability=availablenow&Availability=availablesoon&Availability=occupied&BerthUse=Leisure&BerthUse=Residential

Well we'll get a quote and then can do some sums. If it doesn't make sense financially we won't bother.

Now in month 18 of trying to buy a house. We have found a place and offered based on a 157 year lease that was going to be informally agreed by the current owner pre-completion. They want an open ended completion to be put in place and I can't handle that kind of thing so we are buying without. Our lease will now be 67 years and by the time we can extend it will be 65. I want to make a revised offer based on the lease extension cost in 2 years plus a bit extra for legals etc.

Can anyone recommend a decent person to speak to about lease extensions? We are in Clapton, but I don't think location matters too much for this sort of thing.

It's not on Powell Road is it...?

Nah, bit further north on Northwold.

Someone on here recommended

Gisby Harrison Solicitors
Goffs Oak House, Goffs Lane, Goffs Oak, Cheshunt, Herts, EN7 5HG.
T 01707 878 300
D 01707 878 323
F 01707 876 185
gisbyharrison.co.uk

But I haven't used them. But can't hurt pinging them a call.

Thanks @Howard

I'm more after the surveyor part rather than the legal if you have any thoughts?

We have used Martin Browne at Gisby twice now and he has been superb.
But I recall reading that he has since retired, and people 'on here' have had a less then optimal experience with his associates.

to be honest, you simply wouldn't get away with "not investing any money in renovating or improving it". it's not like a house, which you can let fall into tatty disrepair and some mug will still buy it. everything on, in, and about your boat is functional - even the furniture to some degree as it has to be ergonomic as you live in a six foot wide corridor. the lights in my boat were naff when i got them, so i replaced them with LEDs. cheap, but makes a huge difference and makes the boat more presentable.

there are certain things you have to do anyway - you have to black the hull every 3-4 years, you have to have a boat safety certificate every 2 years (which requires an extensive examination), you need to check the plating every so often (usually through ultrasound) so that it meets legal requirements.

for the sake of argument, if you left the boat in exactly the same state you bought it (with BSS & blacking & things all up to date or as it was) and, for example, replaced any things you'd broken, there's no reason why you wouldn't be able to sell it for the same or same + inflation..... bearing in mind the state of the market. right now, as i said, the demand just keeps growing, so the prices keep upping. there's limited space and limited boats.

you CAN definitely tart up the boat - some people are obsessed with their boat looking ultra trad - but it doesn't matter how it looks, really, except to people who don't care if it works. if the boat works the same and you've taken care of the engine, no reason why it should depreciate. an older boat is more likely to have an extremely good engine. my friend's boat is a fully working 1930s workboat and it's not selling for any less than they bought it for (shameless plug? who's to say): https://www.instagram.com/57forsale/

for reference, a hundred grand gets you this: https://www.apolloduck.com/boat.phtml?id=531205 and that's only 9 foot wide. most widebeams are 12

i work 40+ hours a week in a hospital and juggle walking a dog daily, commuting from as far away as cheshunt or uxbridge, multiple leisure activities. moving the boat takes me the same amount of time mowing a lawn would do, sometimes! or do you mean something else by day to day living

That's a beautiful boat. I've posted that instagram link in the family whatsapp group and they've gone nuts for it...

another friend and well-known framebuilder is also selling theirs... https://www.apolloduck.com/boat.phtml?id=525364