With interest rates rising at eye-watering levels, there has never been a better time to look for a way to dodge the UK’s mortgage hell trap.
Facing the unrealistic prospect of being able to afford a house big enough for them and their furry family, Max Hart-Walsh, 32, and Sorcha Elspeth, 30, chose instead to join the estimated 10,000 other Londoners living on the capital’s waterways.
The couple renovated the empty shell of a brand new 60-foot houseboat adding marble kitchen tops, bookcases and solar panels, while still keeping enough space for full-size sofas, a massive TV and beds for their pet dogs Pecan, Brenan and Stringer Bell.
Paying £58,000 for the boat shell and an engine, the couple kept costs low by designing everything themselves with Max putting the newfound renovation skills he learned after accepting a job at a boat fitting company to the test.
It meant the couple’s dream home cost just over a tenth of London’s average flat price of £541,000 last year. Renting wasn’t an option either with the average rent outside London now at £1,278 – 10 per cent higher in September than last year – as the scramble for affordable housing intensifies.
Serving The Independent a magnificent fish stew, thankfully not dredged from the murky depths of the River Lea, but plucked from the shelves of Aldi in Bruce Grove, Sorcha said the leap into houseboat ownership was a logical choice for the pair.
“My dad left me a chunk of money, not much, but I wanted to do something important with it. I tried to get myself something to live on and wanted to avoid rent.
“You are close to the elements, the water, you have a fire roaring in your house. You are surrounded by space and feel so close to nature.
“I grew up in the Highlands in the remotest part of the UK so it is a way for me to cope with the city.”
She said: “My first boat was just a shed on water, the electrics never worked. I was working as a dogwalker so I just lived in the park. I got confused with being homeless three times because I was wearing the same clothes all the time. But I knew it was a lifestyle I wanted.”
Just as their plans were coming to fruition, Russian president Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine causing a worldwide shortage in boat materials, such as steel and birch that grows in Ukrainain forests. The couple saw the price for a boat shell with an engine shoot up by £20,000, prompting them to move fast.
“Our hand was forced. When the war in Ukraine started it drove up the price of steel. Boat builders found a way to make the war about them.
“Ukraine has the best birch forests, apparently, there is even a quote from a Ukrainian general saying that Putin only wants our trees, not our land.
“Birch is the nicest wood to use on water, it’s hardy but paints well. All the prices shot up, it got really expensive.”
Sorcha said: “If we didn’t buy it that day the prices would have gone up and we would never have been able to do it. We didn’t have anyone else who would give us the money. They were all getting snapped up. This was the last one they had so we had to go for it.”
Their brand new shell of a boat is lowered on to the River Lea
Despite saving £12,000 on VAT after going for a larger 60ft houseboat which means it qualifies as a dwelling and so escapes the tax, Max bemoaned the fact that moorings cost thousands, with Little Venice and its quaint riverside pubs the most desirable spot.
“The dream is there is a 60ft space but people just sit there for months. They cost £25 a night, which is steep.
“They are basically saying you can ‘f*** off’ if you can’t afford it, he said.
They are making it more of a monopoly situation. The whole point of the canals is that anyone can moor in any point of London that was the original appeal.”
Sorcha enjoys the space
