Living aboard a canal boat Many people are leaving dry land behind and living on boats on the UK canal system, and most of them do it because it is the life they choose and love. It is not as cheap an option as you may think, though does have some cheaper benefits. Narrowboat overview. If you are in residential moorings then you will have a monthly charge of about £300 for a 60 ft (18.3 meter) boat. We would recommend renting out a narrowboat for longer than what you would generally use as a holiday. This is the smallest available stern. The Duchess 6 is a large canal boat that is 69 feet long and can sleep between 6 to 8 people. The survey can cost up to EUR 700. Below, I have detailed the general narrowboat costs that you will incur followed by some specific costs that I have faced since moving onto narrowboat James in April 2010. Costs will vary depending on the type of boat you own, it’s size, condition and how many people live on it. Pingback: Narrowboat moorings | narrow boat info. Any help and advice welcome. Thirdly Costs for a 60 FT narrow boat. Now, we cruise the UK canal network, campaigning for mental health issues and recording our adventures on YouTube. The quick and unqualified answer to “how much does a narrowboat cost?” is, “Between about £6,000 and £160,000.” (For widebeams and smaller Dutch barges, think £20,000 to £300,000.) Each chooses the level of comfort wanted on board. A 50ft narrowboat can be purchased for as little as £20,000. Costs of Living on a Barge. You will have your CRT license to pay about £900 for 2017. In this special guest article, narrowboat expert Paul Smith reveals the costs of living on a narrowboat. Jim Walsh. The narrow boat is a traditional style flat-bottomed boat, of distinctive design. Cost of renting a London narrowboat versus a flat Average monthly cost of renting a one-bedroom flat in London: £1,250 To them it sounds like watching endless sunsets from the flybridge, living smaller and simpler, and saving a bunch of money. Living on a narrow boat can be a fantastic way of life, if you enjoy the outdoors and being close to nature then this style of living is going to suit you down to the ground. What would be a ball park figure for lifting and blacking a 60ft as opposed to a 30ft Narrowboat for example, and are there other costs aside from the license and insurance which increase with hull size? We still have mooring fees on a monthly basis as well as the usual continued costs but all in all the true cost of buying a narrowboat was much more than we expected. Perhaps a month or two. We’ll be honest, this wasn’t the primary reason for us deciding to move aboard. We’ve heard that living on a narrowboat is becoming increasingly popular as the cost of living in some areas is rising rapidly. The costs will be a little different in each case, so we have chosen as an example a 54ft (16.62m) narrow boat in regular use and well maintained. It might just be easier to say that you do not have to be rich to enjoy this lifestyle. Thankfully for us the £3,000 was money we could afford thanks to negotiating the price of the boat down from £27,000 but it’s never nice to be hit with so much all at once. Likewise, if you can happily envisage yourself in a 32ft narrowboat the tag line of live aboard this boat for £25,000 is more achievable. Our preferred way of life in the UK comes in the form of an 18 ton steel barge. The boat was in a poor state of repair after years of neglect. Living on a narrowboat is a fantastic lifestyle choice but the cost is possibly a little more than you expected. Helen's boat has a living area too with a log burner Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd. With the price of a narrowboat or barge around a third of the cost … A narrowboat is made to the fit the narrow waterways and canals and has a standard width of 6 feet 10 inches wide. His first winter on board was the coldest since records began with overnight lows of minus eighteen and sub zero daytime highs.. During his time on board, Paul has recorded every penny spent on the upkeep and improvement of his boat. Narrowboat Living. Let’s take a closer look at what living on the water entails. 29 August 2020 at 9:31 PM Reality from a girl who took the plunge. This boat comes with up to four sleeping options that you can choose from. A single person living on a refurbished narrowboat can expect to pay approximately £55 a quarter for utilities and £10 a week on coal or wood in the winter for log burning stoves. When you move on board you must look at costs. Subscribe to our weekly vlogs and follow our journey as the Foxes get Afloat! With… This is the third (and final, as it turns out) video in my short series about the costs of buying and owning a canal narrowboat. YachtWorld currently has 18 Narrowboat yachts for sale, including 0 new vessels and 18 used yachts, listed by experienced yacht brokers and boat dealerships mainly in the following countries: United Kingdom. Moorings are likely to be your biggest fixed cost and … Or as we call it in England a narrowboat. In 2019 we sold our home, gave up our jobs and built our new home, a 57-foot canal narrowboat. A second-hand 50ft narrow boat – usually suited to a couple – will cost from £30,000 upwards to buy, depending on age and condition. However, although an alternative lifestyle may sound exotic to you and your workmates, it’s best to be well prepared for the realities of what it takes to move and live on board a boat. Looking out upon a river on a warm summer’s day, living on a boat can seem like the solution to life’s problems. Paul Smith has been lived on board his narrowboat "James" since April 2010. Popular Places for Water Residence. This is because the boat licence fee if living aboard is rent. It’s not just the cruising experience that appeals, it’s getting around the notoriously. Specifically it is a payment in respect of a licence or permission to occupy a dwelling and thus it qualifies under Regulation 12(1)(b) of the Housing Benefit Regulations. ... at no cost, but will need emptying more often. Boating. In this article ALL of the costs are detailed and explained. Besides the actual boat itself, you’ll encounter several additional costs, depending on how you use your boat: Canal and River Trust licences: Costs depend on your boat’s size, but as an idea, a 40ft vessel is just over £700 per year. The cost of living on a narrowboat. Because everyone has different income levels and spending habits, it is difficult to put a dollar amount on how much it might cost each year to live in France on a barge. Share “Isn’t it Cold in Winter?” people used to regularly ask me, during the 7 years I spent living afloat. Paul Miles, a narrowboat (i.e., canal boat) owner, claims in the Financial Times that more than 10,000 people live on boats in London and more than a quarter of England’s 33,000 inland boats are permanent residences. And each narrowboat style all comes down to the stern: The Traditional Stern. In contrast, the average house costs £200,000 – and unless you are a cash buyer … Published. We’ve saved a little bit of money but we’ve also spent a lot on the boat. 14 October 2014. Before long, PJ was on a lorry headed for Brighton (cost: around £2,000) and I was beside myself with excitement. So aside from the lifestyle benefits a big draw for people considering a liveaboard is the perceived reduction in cost of living. The average narrowboat is around 57ft due to the size of UK locks and as a rule of thumb the cost of a narrowboat is around £1,000/ft, however, this can vary greatly. Th… There are so many variables that affect the price you pay for a narrowboat, it can be something as simple as the fitout being of an incredibly high standard, which adds noughts to the asking price. The idea of living aboard a boat may sound idyllic, but the thought of life on the water vs actually living on the water could be very different. While it’s in dry dock the rust is removed from the hull and a protective layer is painted, which can cost anywhere between EUR 2,000–3000 (including the cost of taking the boat out of the water). Colin, a very informative read, I plan on buying and living on a narrowboat in the future and find this article very useful especially as I’ll be a first time buyer and need as much information as possible before any purchase. The fixed costs Moorings. 42 thoughts on “ The Costs Of Living On A Narrowboat (Updated August 2020) ” Pingback: MIQ Day 9 - A Quiet Day ~ Barry & Sandra's Adventures. I am in the process of choosing a boat to live aboard, is bigger always better? It’s 7ft wide, 60ft long and strips our lifestyle down to the bare necessities. Article by Rated People. 156. We currently rent in a 3 bedroom semi-detached home with a small garage, garden and driveway in Northampton, which really sets us back a fair amount a month, £850.00 to be precise. There is a monthly mooring cost of about EUR 200 depending on the size of the boat, and there are water taxes, which are minimal, but if you live on a proper steel boat (as opposed to floating concrete or a woonark) it must go to dry dock every 4–5 years, for an assessment of the hull. Rod September 3, 2013 at 7:25 am. A traditional narrow boat for sale would be a popular choice for boat buyers wishing to cruise inland waterways. It usually gives a two to three-foot deck area, allowing for more interior living space. Narrowboat is a long-established yacht builder in the boating world. Is it cheaper living on a narrowboat? The information packed eBook “The REAL Cost Of Living Afloat,” showing you every conceivable cost of living afloat, and how much you should budget… The 185-Page eBook “21 Liveaboard Case Studies,” featuring interviews with over 20 liveaboard boaters, for a combined total of over 100+ years of narrowboat experience… Browse our narrow boats for sale. 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