Uncharted Waters: Boat-Dwellers Face Uncertain Future Amid Licencing Review

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Houseboat Dwellers Anxious as Licensing Review Puts Existential Threat on Their Way of Life.

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Alain Gough-Olaya lives on a houseboat he built himself, a floating home he painstakingly constructed while living in the Midlands before moving to London to start work as a community mental health nurse in Hackney. He is what is called a continuous cruiser - a waterborne drifter who has no fixed mooring, instead moving between temporary anchorages up and down the River Lea and beyond, changing every 14 days as the rules dictate.

To supplement this lifestyle and access amenities such as refuse disposal and waste pump-out stations, Alain pays the CRT (Canal & Rivers Trust) around £1,600 annually. "Our licence fee isn't akin to rent," he says. "Rather, it's more comparable to council tax, paying for the infrastructure that allows us to live on the waterways.

But that way of life is now under threat as an independent commission launches a wide-ranging review of boat licensing begun in January. Little has changed in the legislative framework governing Britain's waterways since the British Waterways Act of 1995, and officials are reevaluating whether it's relevant today.

In the last three decades, the number of boats on our waterways has doubled, and in it, we've seen a growing number of people take to life afloat," says Matthew Symonds of CRT. "It has brought welcome life to our canals, yet presents some logistical challenges, too. There needs to be a careful balance when managing a growing fleet within a limited amount of space to ensure fairness for all users.

Continuous cruisers like Alain view impending regulatory reform with trepidation. Many of them fear any legislative overhaul that would disproportionately impact itinerant boaters by forcing them into permanent moorings, often scarce and not affordable. "If that is the case," Alain acknowledges, "that would push me off the waterways, without a home in London or without a career here in London.

"I couldn't continue doing this job, couldn't stay in London. I would be forced to move," he complains.

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SJ, who is studying and working as a part-time carer from south London, has found herself similarly stuck. Like him, she has turned to the water - currently overhauling her boat on the River Lea, as it represents a more viable option than the unaffordable rent available on land.

A few years ago, I realized that staying in London was completely unaffordable," she says. "This is where I grew up, and the thought that I might be priced out of my own home city feels profoundly unfair.

SJ is a fellow continuous cruiser, and she is deeply apprehensive about what this review might bring. Already securing a permanent mooring is long-winded and expensive, she said, fearing any new legislation may make her position even more precarious.

The National Bargee Travellers Association, which represents roving boat-dwellers, says such regulatory shifts could spell the end of the continuous cruiser lifestyle, leaving thousands at risk of displacement.

Should the British Waterways Act 1995 be repealed, or even materially modified, then the outcome would likely be disastrous," the NBTA said to the BBC. "Most likely, boaters would be resisting eviction from their floating homes, while CRT expends millions on legal battles and enforcement measures to push them onto the streets in an acrimonious and costly battle.

For the time being, at least, the CRT says there are no imminent changes in the offing, and the boaters' licences and related fees will be frozen up until 2028. The Trust has committed itself to consultations over the next few months with interested communities and other stakeholders to learn about their concerns and ideas.

The commission is set to present its findings to the CRT board of trustees in September, at which point the fate of continuous cruisers will start to take shape. Until then, boat-dwellers across Britain's canals remain in limbo, their futures tied to the uncertain currents of policy reform.