This UK woman’s new pad is knot too shabby.
Shannon Lane, 28, has traded her room in a shared London apartment for a narrowboat after her landlord raised her rent by nearly $90, taking her monthly payments from $1,200 a month to nearly $1,300.
Now, she only pays a little above $400 per month for the boat, including utilities.
And, not only did they allegedly want to raise her rent, they wanted to add another tenant and create a new bedroom — meaning less space for more money.
“They wanted to build a fake wall and get someone else in the dining room and make it a windowless bedroom, which I’m pretty sure is illegal,” Lane claimed of her former landlord to Caters News Agency.
“I was just basically done with renting,” she continued. “So I took out a loan and bought the boat on the spur of the moment.”
Lane was not planning to move onto a boat, but when the freelance producer was walking down London’s canals and saw one for sale, she was immediately intrigued.
Narrowboats are vessels typically used to navigate canals, as they’re only six feet 10 wide, per Whilton Marina.
She decided to take a chance and buy the boat without doing any research and is living off-the-grid between London’s Notting Hill and Mile End neighborhoods.
In order to spruce up the new living space, all Lane needed was some paint, new doorknobs and fresh-looking furniture, a feat that she says didn’t cost her very much at all.
“The bigger costs are the maintenance you have to do every year,” Lane explained. “You need to get the boat blackened, which is when you paint the bottom to make sure it’s kind of watertight. It costs around £1,000 [$1,257], but it’s still quite cheap.”
In addition to the living costs costs, she also shells out around $125 for insurance and $1,000 on a license fee per year.
She’s also added some locks and alarms on the boat to make her feel safer, as she lives alone with her two-year-old pet Pug mix, Gilbert.
But since living on the boat, Lane reported that she’s made a ton of new friends.
“I didn’t know anyone who lived on boats,” Lane explained. “I just thought it was something that people in the countryside or older generations did. I didn’t know people in my generation could do it.”
“But I’ve had my eyes opened,” she added. “There’s lots of people my age living on London’s canals and they’ve helped me settle into boating life.”
The 28-year-old said that the best thing about living on a boat is the freedom it gives her to travel wherever she wants — but the worst is definitely the lack of a toilet.
“I have to empty my toilet. It’s basically a giant well,” she explained. “You have to take it to this disgusting point and empty it out, and sometimes it’s full or clogged up. I’ve had to do that on a hangover.”
Still, she recommends anyone who may be interested to give the lifestyle a shot.
“Do your research,” she said. “Find out about the way of life in general.”
“You don’t get the luxuries that you do in a house, but if you are a free spirit, and I would say just go for it.”