Choosing & buying a residential canal boat

The second hand narrowboat may already have all the additional 'liveaboard' features that you are looking for (inverters, battery management systems, all those little extras that private owners add, etc, etc), and as such may well be offering excellent, all inclusive, value for money. Remember that prices quoted for new boats are generally inclusive of only the mere basics. There may be a considerable additional cost to add all your chosen 'liveaboard' add-ons to the new boat.

There are other possible problems with a brand new boat, viz:
If the new steel has been painted whilst still covered in mill scale - that paintwork may suffer from premature deterioration (may even peel off). It is arguable whether or not bitumastic preparations should be applied on top of metal primers or direct to bare steel. We have seen bitumastic peel off some primers like sun burn (on boats only a few months old). There have been murmurings in the trade about premature pitting (rusting) of relatively new steel. THIS ALL SOUNDS AS THOUGH WE ARE CRITICISING BOAT BUILDERS AT LARGE - WE ARE NOT. THERE ARE SOME VERY FINE SKILLED BUILDERS AVAILABLE. We are merely pointing out possible problems. If buying second hand, with the assistance of a skilled surveyor (see below), most such problems should have manifested themselves and be picked up on during pre-sale examination of the boat.

Where's best to buy a narrowboat?
If buying second hand most people buy from narrowboat brokers. This next bit is opinion based - some brokers advertise sensible prices - some have very inflated prices - so caveat emptor - get advice. Over the last few years I've noticed that many of the best deals have been from brokers NOT merely specialising in just brokerage - but from marina based operators who specialise perhaps in the provision of moorings or boat engineering, and just also happen to sell boats on brokerage (perhaps mainly for existing moorers). Examples of brokers whom we have had clients buy from (very satisfactorily) are:- Ray Bowen at Streethay; Sawley Marina; Swanley Marina and Calcutt Marina - none of these business specialise just in Brokerage (although each have relatively few boats on Brokerage - the boats they did have in stock provided generally good, sensibly priced, purchase options). I'm sure there are many other useful Brokers around - I do hear good reports about Andy Burnett, particularly if you are looking at the high end of the market. Obviously the contents of this paragraph are based on my own personal opinion. Whoever you buy through you should satisfy yourself that the person selling the boat both owns the boat, and has the right to legally sell it on. Of course buying through a reputable broker/marina based business will provide an element of confidence in this respect.

Some second hand boats may be ex-hireboats. Be aware that ex-hire narrowboats may, or may not, have been well maintained. As a liveaboard boat, they may well need a lot of money spent to get them properly equipped for all year round use. They may well have had a very hard life.

There are those who maintain that narrowboat market values vary significantly depending on where you are in the UK. There is a logic here. Where house prices are very high (and where salaries also tend to be high) it is likely that second hand narrowboat prices will reflect that tendency. We have been involved with helping people cost effectively buy second hand boats for some time now. Our own experience certainly seems to bear the theory out.

Do I need a Survey?
Ethically I have to answer yes you should get a survey BUT do get a good surveyor. We have never bothered for our own boats as we prefer to go on our own opinions as to the condition or worth of a boat. But then it is our own fault if the bottom of one of our boats disintegrates. We cover this type of issue on our wannabe liveaboard courses.

The trade will tell you always to get a survey - sound advice but only good advice IF the surveyor is good. Sadly we have come across cases where surveyors have missed faults that should just not have been missed. Having a boat with a sound hull is important (surveyors do seem to be good at checking hull thicknesses), but there are other important faults that you would not want to be missed. A 'knackered' engine & gearbox could cost more to replace than some remedial bottom plating in dry dock. Get someone who really knows about narrowboats to check out your prospective purchase. Remember Caveat Emptor (buyer beware). On the plus side, there are very good narrowboats around - not always new or even young - sometimes an older well maintained boat can be excellent, if not better, value for money. An older boat may have bags of character and beauty, when compared with the clinical date box nature of some new budget boats.