More residential moorings needed - BW

(Alternative title: Wake up and see the ducks)

Boating got onto the Today programme again this morning. Business presenter Adam Shaw interviewed BW's Customer Services Director, Simon Salem at about 0845. You can listen again by clicking here (will work only for the next week).

To save you the trouble I have transcribed the interview in full below. Adam Shaw doesn't get a straight answer to his question about prices. Simon Salem complains about local authorities' reluctance to approve new residential moorings.


Evan Davis: We know the housing market’s been sinking; is it the right time to splash out on a houseboat? Two corny puns in one sentence! Here’s Adam.

Adam Shaw: ...some sort of award for that, Evan, thank you very much. Yes, what about the property prices for floating homes? Houseboats and barges have become an increasingly popular option over the past few years, have they been able to hold their price during this downturn? Well joining us from our Luton studio is Simon Salem, customer services director at British Waterways which manages the UK river and canal network. Good morning.

Simon Salem: Good morning.

AS: Erm, have homes on the river done any better than those on dry land?

SS: Well certainly there, there’s been a very strong demand for people to live abroad ...er.. on the water. I think part of that is just the popularity of the canals, you can... you can imagine the number of visits the canals have been going up, 300 million visits a year; the number of boats have been going up: ten thousand more than there were ten years ago, er, and you can imagine the attraction, can’t you, of waking up in the morning, drawing the curtains and seeing the ducks. So we know there’s a really strong demand for these things. I think it’s important to say that if you’re going to ... to live afloat, you’ve got to remember that, er, er, even if it’s a reponse to the credit crunch, there are costs as well as the boat: you’ve got to have a license, you’ve got to have, er, MOT certificate and insurance and all that sort of thing...

AS: Ye... none the less...but have houseboats, for instance, have the price of houseboats been insulated from the price falls we’ve seen in the more traditional market?

SS: Well, I think we’ve seen very strong demand ... and, I think there’s, you know, there’s good reasons for that, it’s all very nice as I’ve just outlined, er, and there’s a sort of worrying reason for that which I think British Waterways thinks is very important. The worrying reason is that, you kow, as, as economics tells you, if the price is going up, even in difficult times like this, that probably means there isn’t enough supply... er, one of the problems with er with living on a boat is, it’s, it’s great if you’re going to cruise around the system all year: you don’t need a residential home mooring, but if you’re going to live on it, and live in one place, and that’s what most of us do, we wanna live in one place, then you need somewhere that’s got local authority residential planning permission, and the local authorities on the whole don’t take a very positive atti...attitude towards, towards houseboats, so we wanna persuade them to think differently.

AS: Erm... you... you say the attractions of houseboat living are obvious, I’m not so sure, it...it looks always rather cold to me sitting there, having the rain hammer down on your thin roof, would you live on a houseboat if they’re so lovely?

SS: Er, well the rain, it raineth everywhere, doesn’t it, both on the houses and on the houseboats ...er

AS: Indeed...some of the roofs are bigger?

SS: ...Some of the roofs are bigger but you get a lot of modern comforts on houseboats ...er... I think the crucial thing is to ... try and persuade local authorities to take a positive view of this and get people the opportunity to live in ...in the right sort of houseboat community where they want to. But it isn’t for everyone, you’re right.

AS: OK, Simon Salem, er customer services director at British Waterways, and weather forecaster, many thanks.

Sarah Montague: The sound of the rain is lovely. Adam.

AS: Is it? (Laughter) OK, I’ll take your word for it!

edited for spelling