Benefits on a liveaboard?
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Category: General
Forum Name: Banter
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URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13121
Printed Date: 27 Jun 25 at 12:37pm
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Topic: Benefits on a liveaboard?
Posted By: Frosar
Subject: Benefits on a liveaboard?
Date Posted: 20 Jul 18 at 11:21am
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Hi! I'm looking to live on my boat - however I was wondering if I can still claim my benefits if I don't have a physical address? I've used a wage calculator to help budget for this, and we'd be very stretched for cash if we drop the benefits which is concerning me. Will I still be able to get the benefits I do even if we don't have a physical address? Many thanks :)
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Replies:
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 20 Jul 18 at 11:58am
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If it's Income Support it appears you should be ok http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/help-if-on-a-low-income/income-support/before-you-claim-income-support/check-if-you-can-get-income-support/" rel="nofollow - http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/help-if-on-a-low-income/income-support/before-you-claim-income-support/check-if-you-can-get-income-support/ ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: JimC
Date Posted: 20 Jul 18 at 2:14pm
| Hmm, looks distinctly spammy to me... |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 20 Jul 18 at 3:01pm
| You own a boat big enough to live on and yet claim benefits? I must be doing something wrong... |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 20 Jul 18 at 4:38pm
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Could be a narrowboat, much cheaper than a house but big enough to live on. Retired couple with a modest pension maybe? Perhaps the OP will enlighten us? ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Rusty69
Date Posted: 20 Jul 18 at 7:30pm
| Narrowboats ain't particularly cheap, especially in London with a mooring. |
Posted By: 423zero
Date Posted: 20 Jul 18 at 8:16pm
| with a mooring you would have an official delivery address |
Posted By: PeterG
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 8:04am
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Not everyone has a permanent mooring. I know someone with a narrow boat in London, certainly a lot cheaper than a house or flat, but she has to move it every 2 weeks to comply with temporary mooring conditions. As I understand it there are a lot of people in that situation. ------------- Peter Ex Cont 707 Ex Laser 189635 DY 59 |
Posted By: 423zero
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 8:56am
| How far do you have to move ? |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 9:08am
But still significantly cheaper than a house, wherever you live. And liveaboards don't usually have/need a permanent mooring. http://www.apolloduck.com/boat.phtml?id=362389" rel="nofollow - http://www.apolloduck.com/boat.phtml?id=362389 £20k, licence/insurance/diesel, best I can find comes to around £1200-1500 p.a. and if you need a mooring that ranges from a few hundred pounds to £3k outside London. That's a little cheaper than a cheap one bed flat in Blackpool or Rhyl (very cheap areas to rent). A similar flat in London would cost upwards of £14k p.a so living on a boat is much cheaper than living in a flat or house in all but the most deprived areas. (note to self, must get a life  )------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 9:25am
You have to be a 'bona-fide' 'continuous cruiser' and move an "unspecified" distance navigating the waterways. They will assess if they think you meet the conditions when you renew your licence. The conditions are pretty strict and there was a documentary about it a while ago (if I can find it I'll post a link, it was a good, if slightly disturbing, watch). It's very difficult, almost impossible if you have schools or work to attend. The Canals and Waterways Trust seems particularly unsympathetic in the way they apply the rules and the feeling amongst the cruising community is that the Trust are trying to eradicate liveaboard's from the network. All very sad and, whilst I understand the need for revenue to maintain the waterways I find it hard to see what harm liveaboards do by spending more than the 'official' time on a small area of the network. ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 9:30am
BTW, rather than labelling the OP as a spammer we should thank him for kicking off an interesting discussion (even though it may actually not be relevant to his own specific circumstances)  ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: JimC
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 9:38am
If all the moorings in London were occupied by permanent residents rotating between moorings there would be no moorings for people who were actually using the canal system. If you have too many liveaboards you don't have a canal network because it becomes difficult or impossible to travel anywhere and find a place to stop. |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 10:10am
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Yes, that makes some sense JC ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 10:20am
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Here is that video I mentioned http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=125&v=5upAf7waaLg" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=125&v=5upAf7waaLg ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: PeterG
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 11:57am
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How far do you have to move ?
I don't know what the minimum distance is, but I think in practice it can be quite a long way, and unsurprisingly it's often not easy finding space in the SE near London. ------------- Peter Ex Cont 707 Ex Laser 189635 DY 59 |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 3:55pm
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There isn't an official minimum distance and the C&WT keep moving the goalposts (they really don't seem to want liveaboards on the network but the right to live on the canals is enshrined in the waterways act). FWIW the people in the documentary were on the Kennet and Avon where it's fairly quiet, not S London. ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Rusty69
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 4:11pm
No need to quote figures. I actually live on a narrowboat, but not in London. I also own a house 
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Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 4:36pm
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Fair enough, I stand by it being much cheaper than living in a house though ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Rusty69
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 4:44pm
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It probably is if you compare buying a house in London to buying a narrowboat in London, but mooring costs pa in London are silly money for a decent sized liveaboard narrowboat. Constant cruising around London whilst possible, would prove very difficult.
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Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 6:51pm
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Yes, that was the point. Even with £10k moorings it's much cheaper to live on a boat than in a London flat and itinerant liveaboards don't need a mooring anyway. If the OP does indeed plan live on a narrow boat and if he can fulfil the CRT's draconian rules he could live much more cheaply on his boat than in a house. It was telling in the video when the CRT guy replied to the suggestion that 'Article 8 of the EU convention on human rights states that a public body must respect peoples homes' with "we are not a public body".....
------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Rusty69
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 6:56pm
| Thats the point though, they are unlikely to be able to cc in London and will likely require a mooring. Maintenance fees, bsc, licence fees are not insignificant. |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 7:22pm
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Yup, and, if you live on one you'll be much better informed than me. But the people in the video and the OP, have not said they'll be living in London, and, even if they were a boat is still much cheaper than a house irrespective where you live, both to buy and to live in....... My son and his fiancé lived in Walthamstow until a couple of years ago, rent on a small one bed flat had reached nearly £1200 a month just before they left (to live and work in China). ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Rusty69
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 7:26pm
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The op hasn't said much, although their location is listed as London. I haven't watched the video, but my 20 years living on a 70ft narrowboat has given me a good grasp of the costs involved.
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Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 7:29pm
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Like I said, you will be much better informed than me but I do have some knowledge as my brother in law and I looked into it for him a few years ago. Maybe I'm wrong but would you say it's cheaper than living in a house in the same area or not? ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Rusty69
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 7:42pm
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You would have to advise what you are comparing. Clearly if a mortgage is involved, then the house will be more expensive. The day to day living expenses however are likely higher on a narrowboat. Every two years, remove remove boat from water and reblack bottom, just as an example, aint cheap
B |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 8:13pm
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It's probably easier to compare to renting but the interest on a 100k mortgage probably costs around £13k p.a. so yes it's bound to be but houses need maintenance too, are probably more expensive to heat, council tax to pay etc...... I've just found this page http://www.canaljunction.com/boat/liveaboard3.htm" rel="nofollow - http://www.canaljunction.com/boat/liveaboard3.htm , they seem to think maintenance costs on a boat are lower than for a house. OTOH if we are talking about a 40' keelboat moored in a Solent marina then costs will be rather more than a modest house in the area...... edit, looks a bit out of date though (their web domain is lapsed).
------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: Rusty69
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 8:18pm
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Well, over the last 10 years, i have spent significantly more on maintenance of my narrowboat, than on my house. My 28 foot boat (not on the solent) costs bugger all.
Good luck OP finding your answer. |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 21 Jul 18 at 8:28pm
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Thanks, ------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: zippyRN
Date Posted: 22 Jul 18 at 8:59pm
which is why the CRT are not fond of people who aren't genuine continuous cruisers not having a base mooring ( and associated postal address) ... which really restricts continuous cruising to those who can work around it or have no need to work due to pensions or other private income.
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