Screwing for Greed

Posted on March 6, 2017 by pensitivity101

There are a lot of people on the marina up in arms today following receipt of a white envelope announcing a rise in mooring fees.
The bar steward who owns the marina has decided to introduce a Residential Rate for berth holders, so liveaboards like us have now be dealt an additional hammer blow in an outrageous increase in cost.
For us, it equates to an extra £1200 a year, purely because we choose to live on a boat.
That is a hike of a whopping 40%, already on top of the 44% our River Licence attracted in January.
Incidentally, the river authority already charges us for living on our boat.
Oh, and so do the council in local taxes.
So we are now being screwed thrice over for the way we live.
Come back Francesca, the lassy who interviewed me a week or so ago, and have another go.
The cost of boat living is escalating out of all proportion for people who have been trying to find alternative means to own their homes. Boat life has increased in popularity with moorings filling up and having waiting lists whilst people like our Owner are cashing in.

It will cripple us and many others like us who have already been priced out of the property market.
Our income is extremely limited and already likely to reduce (another bombshell dropped in our mail box last week), so we have a double whammy to contend with.
I am good with money and can make it stretch, but I cannot magic vast sums like this out of midair as costs spiral out of control making our outgoings far exceed our income.
And No, we will not get any help from the state.
Why?
Because I have a small pension pot (and have to wait an extra 6 years before I qualify for a state pension).

About pensitivity101

I am a retired number cruncher with a vivid imagination and wacky sense of humour which extends to short stories and poetry. I love to cook and am a bit of a dog whisperer as I get on better with them than people sometimes! In November 2020, we lost our beloved Maggie who adopted us as a 7 week old pup in March 2005. We decided to have a photo put on canvas as we had for her predecessor Barney. We now have three pictures of our fur babies on the wall as we found a snapshot of Kizzy, my GSD when Hubby and I first met so had hers done too. On February 24th 2022 we were blessed to find Maya, a 13 week old GSD pup who has made her own place in our hearts. You can follow our training methods, photos and her growth in my blog posts. From 2014 to 2017 'Home' was a 41 foot narrow boat where we made strong friendships both on and off the water. We were close to nature enjoying swan and duck families for neighbours, and it was a fascinating chapter in our lives. We now reside in a small bungalow on the Lincolnshire coast where we have forged new friendships and interests.
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11 Responses to Screwing for Greed

  2. vanbytheriver says:
    March 6, 2017 at 11:01 pm

    I’m so sorry for you. A hike of 40% is ridiculous.

  3. philosophermouseofthehedge says:
    March 7, 2017 at 2:21 am

    This is something we worry about and why we aren’t on a boat right now. Docking fees are so high and only go higher. A couple of sailboats are now actually anchored out in the middle of the lake. Rowing back and forth is really troublesome, and a wet bother many times. It just doesn’t seem fair – to work so hard all your life and then when you should be able to enjoy it, costs sky rocket and not because of anything you did. Hope something works out for you.

  4. nanny15 says:
    March 7, 2017 at 10:16 am

    Yes sadly, everything these days is looked at through the eyes of money, doing something to improve the lot of others is from a bygone era.
    Sell the boat, move to New Zealand, much better everything here, still cheap houses in the little towns.
    That’s why all the rich stars are buying up our land. 🙂

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