A WOMAN has revealed how she's saved herself over £1,200 a month by moving onto a narrowboat - but now, there's a major drawback.
In an area where the average rent for a one-bedroom flat is £1,600, Shannon Lane, 29, a freelance producer, is now paying an average of £350 a month for her narrowboat home including utilities.
The freelancer explained that she was looking for somewhere "more affordable" with space for her and her adorable pug, Gilbert.
She took out a loan to buy a £24,000 30ft narrowboat which she moved into in January 2023.
Ever since Shanon moved, her mental health has drastically improved and she no longer suffers from "bad anxiety and depression", she previously said.
But it's not all been smooth-sailing for the 29-year-old beauty who recently shared with her 75k TikTok followers what really happens once the temperatures plummet.
According to Shannon, the inside of her unique home gets so cold that even her pooch's water freezes practically solid - and the fate of her cuppa was the same.
Holding a cup of tea she had left in the sink for a few hours and turning it upside down, Shannon showed viewers that the brew wasn't coming out.
It wasn't until the 29-year-old gave the ceramic mug a good smack against the sink that the leftover tea finally came out - as a solid circle, with the round teabag fully intact.
Also filming the frozen canal the boat was on, Shannon confessed that living in a narrowboat during the harsher winter months wasn't that easy - and she had considered ditching this lifestyle 12 months ago.
''Last year I almost quit boat life because of this,'' she admitted in .
Shannon, currently based in Hackney, East London, said: "I was paying £900-a-month for a room, I thought 'this is ridiculous'.
"I was thinking of other options that were more affordable with space that me and my dog could live in comfortably.
"As soon as I saw the boat advertised I knew it was one for me, I spent £24,000 and I worked out that my loan repayments are £300-a-month.
"That is a huge difference to what I was paying back in my house share and this is something I now own.
"Shannon was living in a shared house with two friends - originally paying £900-a-month until her landlord upped her rent to £1,000-a-month.
The 29-year-old was having a stroll the Kings Cross canal in October 2022 when she came across a narrowboat for sale.
Shannon said it was a "no-brainer" to move onto a boat and is now saving thousands a year.
Houseboats can be cheaper than buying a home on dry land but doesn't come without risks.
You may be able to get a special type of mortgage for a boat, but it can be more difficult than getting a traditional home loan and have higher rates of interest.
You won't pay stamp duty when buying a boat to live on, and you can move to a different location whenever you want without having to sell up.
You might even be able to live in a location where you wouldn't be able to afford a bricks and mortar house.
But space can be more limited, and the value of houseboats can generally go down over time, like a car or motorbike.
A licence which you need from the canal and river trust can cost anywhere between £510 and £1,100 a year depending on the size of the boat.
There are likely to be ongoing costs for maintenance and mooring as well as fuel, a boat safety certificate and, of course, insurance.
There’s always something that needs to be done on a boat – from engine servicing to treating rust spots, not to mention emptying the toilet and filling the water tank.
Energy bills could be higher on the boat than a home as they are generally harder to insulate.
If your boat is moored permanently, it will typically be in the lowest tax band, with single occupants benefiting from a 25% reduction.
However, if you’re happy to move every two weeks as a ‘continuous cruiser,’ you won’t have to pay this
She said: "I saw the boat and thought 'what if?'.
"I texted the owner and we set up a viewing for the following week.
"As soon as I saw the boat itself I saw it was £24k and I worked out that paying my loan from the bank to afford it would be £300-a-month.
"That is a massive saving from what I was paying in my house share."
But although the new journey was exciting, figuring out how to live on a boat wasn't easy, with Shannon saying she was experiencing the "boat blues".
"It was a huge learning curve, I like to call it my boat blues.
"I thought it was going to be amazing and I would have all this freedom but when you come down to it you have all this hard work.
"It was January too so I was freezing, I didn't know how to move the boat, empty the toilet or fill up the water.
"The best thing about boat life is the community, it is so nice to each other - if it wasn't for them I don't think I could have done it."
The Londoner said she loves the freedom of being on the boat and said her family, although ''hesitant'' at first, trusted her judgement.
";I have made some of my best friends in the community, it is the freedom you get.
"I love the fact I can travel whenever I want and the summers are absolutely amazing."
