13 Reasons Why You Should Be Living on a Houseboat!

5 min readApr 17, 2018

By Alex Colas

Being able to afford to rent a flat of your own in London is, for most of us, not even an option to be considered. The only affordable possibility we have is to rent a room in a shared house or a flat. Here are 13 reasons why living on the water could float your boat…

1. It’s a Money Saver 💸

Whether you are renting or buying, houseboats on average are much cheaper!

See this one below for example, the room price is only £370 per month:

Houseboat in Gravesend on Ideal Flatmate

Also, if you’re looking to invest you can buy a houseboat for less than £50,000 according to Homes & Property, if you know where to look.

Anything under that price may require a bit of refurbishment, but you can have a fish around on Gumtree to catch those good deals.

Keep in mind though, that there are quite a few additional costs to owning a houseboat, which can push the price up:

Source: The Telegraph

On the plus side, you don’t have to waste a penny on Stamp Duty, which makes a very big difference for your savings.

2. Being Environmentally Friendly

Source: Reddit

You can say that mother nature has no beef with you if you get a houseboat, especially if it’s from a green manufacturer.

If you fancy giving ‘saving the planet’ a go, I definitely recommend looking into these guys: http://www.theriverpodcompany.co.uk/

At the River Pod Company you can purchase a bespoke 1 bed houseboat from only £60,000. All come fully kitted out with a solar powered engine, water sanitizer, and a recycled floating system. Eco warriors rejoice!

3. Breathe in the Fresh Air

Put the wind in your sails as you get back to nature and breathe in that fresh river-side air!

4. You Can Call Yourself a CAPTAIN ⚓

I think we can all agree there is absolutely nothing cooler than that.

5. Mobility

Whether it’s to move away from that annoying neighbor or just to go visit a friend in the other side of London, you can go anywhere you please with a Houseboat. If you get a big enough one, you may even be able to sail away, sail away, sail away for a weekend on the French West Coast.

6. Being Part of a Strong Community

It’s true we are being very optimistic about a situation that can be a last resort for many who are priced out of the property market. And if you really can’t afford much, the conditions of the boat you get can make things tough.

However it has been said that all the people that are in the same ‘boat’ (figuratively) form a strong community, that you can rely on.

Crowdfunding campaign for the UK’s first Floating Village — The Village Butty

7. Sleep Like a Baby

No need to buy sleeping pills, you can let your houseboat naturally rock you to sleep every night. 💤😴

8. Become a Fisherman

Who needs to go to the Marks and Spencer’s fish section when you can get fresh fish yourself? You might even find it a fun and therapeutic activity.

Careful though, you are not allowed to fish anywhere. The Evening standard say you are allowed to go to the following around London: Clapham Common Ponds, South Norwood Lake, Alexandra Palace Boating Lake, Epping Forest and Walthamstow Reservoirs.

These can change so you may need to check with your local authority regularly.

9. You Have to Keep Things Light

Living on a houseboat, you won’t be able to have massive furniture. You’ll need to be a minimalist, which is a good thing by the way!

So get rid of all those items that you keep just in case but will probably never need, and enjoy a clutter free, less materialistic and cleaner lifestyle.

Find out more about it in our article on Minimalism here.