MOOR for your MONEY
Luxury costs millions in Central London, unless you take to the river
MESSING about in boats is a pastime much- l oved by Britons. But living on a boat full-time is a bit like Marmite. You either love it or hate it. One person who definitely loves is it Neil McIver, who says he has been obsessed with living afloat for the past 15 years.
‘I’d stayed on a few boats and got into the lifestyle, but it took a long time to find my own vessel,’ he explains.
The most difficult thing is locating somewhere to moor. Residential moorings can be elusive, especially in Central London. But Neil hit gold by spotting an advertisement for some self-build co-operative style moorings in Wapping, just downstream from Tower Bridge on the River Thames.
‘I liked the sound of these as they are run by the owners, so we can set the annual service charges,’ says Neil, who is 55 and works in IT. The charges – currently £5,556 per annum – pay for things such as a water supply, the moorings manager’s wages and Port of London Authority fees.
Once he had the mooring, Neil then had to find a boat. He almost gave up because it was so difficult to find the right one, but eventually his dream came true in 2010 when he located an old 100ft Dutch barge built in 1913 that was being used as a floating clubhouse for a wind sailing club in London’s Royal Victoria Dock.
‘It was basically a pub and looked a bit tacky, but I thought all it needed was a lick of paint,’ says Neil.
The barge, which was called Dankbaarhied and used to operate along the Friesian canals of Northern Holland, was for sale for £70,000 but hadn’t been surveyed for a decade.
Neil bought it nevertheless and says the most anxious journey he has had on it was going to the dry dock to check out the boat. However, his luck held and there were no major faults or damage.
‘But then I started to look at what would be needed to turn it into a home and decided to strip everything out, which I hadn’t bar
gained for as I had no background in boating,’ he says. Everything had to be made bespoke, but three years and £450,000 later, the interior of his new home was built to his and his girlfriend Jenny’s design, with the help of some brilliant craftsmen.
The boat has three bedrooms – one currently in use as a study/office – central heating and a wood burner. There is underfloor heating in the bathroom, a fully fitted kitchen area and 158 square metres of living space, with wide oak floorboards, portholes and roof lights. The saloon is big enough for two large sofas and an armchair. Neil and Jenny, who is now his wife, love the tranquillity of living on a boat.
IT’S just like living in a little village, but you’re on the water in a busy city centre,’ Neil says.
‘There’s a very tight-knit community here and always something happening on the river. I love the sounds too – the water lapping against the side of the boat, the ducks, coots and moorhens, and we’ve even seen a black swan swimming around with the other white swans.’
But the boat does move a little when other craft go by, which is something people might not be keen on.
As much as the couple love their floating home, they’ve got the bug for projects and want to renovate a farmhouse in Italy, where Jenny’s family come from.
‘We’ll miss it terribly, but it’s time to do something else,’ says Neil.