Do you pay council tax if you live on aboat in a mooring?

Question

I'm thinking of doing something crazy, i.e. sell my flat and live on a boat in kent, but still do bus driving as a living..

I saw somewhere there is a £92 a week mooring fees, but would you have to pay council tax?

Answer 1

Yes you still have to pay council tax

Answer 2

Of course you don't.

Council tax is attached to  properties. Boats are not considered to be a permanent address.

There are 1000.s on the canals that do not have a mooring, they just move on every so often. There is no address to send the bill to.

Answer 3

Yes, why should you not? Everyone else has to pay their taxes, unless you are an out-of-work, immigrant, scroat or 13 year old mother of 6.

Answer 4

92 seems a little expensive although it dose very from place to place and no to tax

Answer 5

Providing it`s not a "houseboat" which has no engine and therefore cannot move then it is not classed as a permanent residence.You could go cruising at weekends and holidays which would take you off the moorings.

Answer 6

Yes, you do if you live on it (but not if its just moored at a non residential mooring)

Also before jumping in (excuse the pun) make sure that the mooring is residential and that you have all the amenties (ie electric, Telephone point etc

Answer 7

If you live aboard on a residential mooring, it is assumed that you will come off it from time to time for shopping, using roads, libraries, other public amenities, so you will be billed for the lowest rate in your area.

Residential moorings are like gold these days - secure a mooring before buying your boat.

You can be a "continuous cruiser" which means you are allowed to moor most places on the canals, but must move on a distance of 2 miles once a fortnight (I'm not sure how this can be policed).

My mooring in a Marina (Staffordshire)  with shore power, water, loos, etc., is technically non-residential (although I have my suspicions about some boats!) and for a 30' boat, total running costs are around £1500 p.a.

30' may sound small, but I am sure that I could live on her by myself.

Don't forget that everything to do with boats is by the foot - so much per foot to moor, so much per foot for your Waterways Licence, bigger boat = higher insurance, and so on.  The smaller a boat on which you can manage, the lower will be your annual outgoings.