‘This was my eureka moment’: Supercar dealer splashes out on a £300k HOUSE BOAT after becoming furious about soaring property prices
A MAN has found a clever way of avoiding London’s sky high housing prices… and it turns out that the solution is to avoid buying on land altogether.
Enterprising Alex Prindiville has swapped mortar for water by building a luxury houseboat for just £300,000.
The spacious floating home has enough space for two roomy bedrooms, a cosy longue and a modern kitchen and bathroom.
Other unique features include a characterful log burning stove in the living room and granite worktops in the kitchen areas.
Last year, the Land Registry estimated that the average price of a London home hit a whopping £500,000.
Staggeringly, buying a spacious two-bedroom land home in the same area, St Katherine Docks in East London, would cost a bank-breaking £1 million.
Alex, 41, said: "I love living by the water and I love great design, but as a businessman I don't want to pay over the odds for a flat if there is a better solution.
"Why should anyone pay over £1 million for a flat they only use Monday to Friday in an over-inflated market?
"And then I had my 'eureka' moment. I realised a houseboat would be perfect if I could find a way to transform it into the kind of place I would be happy living in."
Not wanting to fork out for a pricey property, the supercar salesman hired a specialist boat-builder from Sheffield to help him with his project.
The pair worked together to design and build the steel boat, which has all the furnishings of a traditional house.
The boat house also has pressure-jet central heating with 'smart control', full electrics, hot and cold running water, solid wood flooring and a skylight.
To keep the floating house in the dock, it costs around £9,000 and £13,000 and it costs around £100 a year for electricity and heating.
Alex has fallen in love with his life on the boat, explaining: "Half the time you forget you're on the water - apart from when the sun comes out and you can have a drink on the deck.
"And the sense of space is phenomenal, a real tribute to the execution of the design.
"I love my home and believe this is the start of an urban living revolution.
"It's perfect for a week day crash pad or a weekend or holiday retreat.
“It even works for parents considering buying property for their student children because it isn't tied down to a particular location after three years is up."
As his move to the docks has been so successful, Alex has decided to sell similar handcrafted British steel boats through his business Prindiville Marine.