Houses on the water: world and domestic experience

Recommendation points

• “Houseboats” – Western realities
• How about us?
• How much does it cost to build a house on water in Russia
• Legal aspects

A house on the water is still exotic for our country, but all over the world people are actively using a similar housing option. Houseboats are home to both poor Vietnamese fishermen and intelligent Europeans. A modern house on the water is often not inferior in comfort to capital housing.

“Houseboats” – Western realities

In many foreign countries, houses on the water have long been a familiar habitation. Among European countries, they are especially popular in Great Britain, Italy and Holland, where in the post-war period, in conditions of a lack of quality housing, people began to use barges moored at the berths and old ships for living, which later began to be perceived as stationary housing. Then they got the name “Houseboat”.

For example, only in Holland there are now about 10 thousand “water” houses, of which 2.5 thousand belong to residents of Amsterdam and its environs.

Houseboat was once considered a cheap home that did not offer a high level of comfort. Typically, such a living barge had 2-3 rooms, a tiny kitchen, toilet and shower. Over time, houses on the water became fashionable, and having a Houseboat became prestigious. Nowadays, house barges located in the center of Amsterdam cost a lot of money. The average price for a Houseboat in Holland is about 500 thousand euros, plus you have to invest in repair and cleaning of the bottom, pay water tax and mooring..

In addition, there are a number of additional restrictions for those who like to live on the water in this country. For example, only one Dutch bank, ING, issues mortgage loans for the purchase of houses on the water. Barges must be moored at a distance of at least 2 meters from each other and at least 7 meters from bridges. The appearance of such houses also cannot be changed without permission from the authorities..

Now in Holland they are testing new generation houses on water, which are made of aluminum and light, but strong wood species. The houses are installed on a special floating platform, which allows them to be easily moved through the water. The construction of modern floating houses should help solve the problem of land scarcity for housing. In Holland, this direction is very actively developing, for example, now about 200 floating houses are being built in the country a year, and by 2025 it is predicted to build more than 20 thousand such residential buildings on the water. A separate state structure has even been created here, whose activities are aimed at supporting this type of construction. The Dutch plan to build entire floating areas in the future.

Barbara Haviland. Houseboat with Deer on the Atchafayala. 2010

Some Parisians live on the water all year round, among them there are even celebrities: the popular actor Pierre Richard lived for several years on a floating barge moored off the banks of the Seine in the very center of Paris.

Houseboats are also popular in France. The French also refer to these houses as complete housing. In winter, the barges are heated using specially equipped fireplaces. Floating houses in France are considered the privilege of the rich, the cost of one floating house ranges from 100 to 300 thousand euros. Plus berth rental and maintenance. Nevertheless, among the French people who want to live on the water and contemplate the water surface from the window instead of noisy city streets every year there are more and more.

How about us?

In Russia, interest in the construction of houses on water began to appear not so long ago, and so far such structures have not been widely developed, but rather are used as temporary housing.

All houses on the water that exist at the present time in our country can be divided into 2 groups: temporary suburban housing and elite objects.

As for the first group, such houses received a simple name – floating houses. They are usually used for living in the summer, and such floating houses usually do not reach full-fledged capital housing in terms of comfort. Nevertheless, it is a great alternative to the usual yachts and boats. In such a floating cottage, you can travel on the water with comfort..

Among the elite buildings on the water, there are both residential buildings and restaurants, cafes and offices. Such buildings appeared in our country only a few years ago. An example is the Moscow floating restaurant “Prince Yury”, which is moored at the pier near the “Hotel Russia”.

We also have landing stages. For example, Moscow and St. Petersburg now have only one official residential landing stage. It is moored in St. Petersburg on Krestovsky Island. It is a large two-storey building, on the second floor of which there is a huge 63 sq. m. The house itself has two balconies, a sauna, a cinema room and a winter garden.

So far, the pace of construction of new overwater buildings in Russia is rather slow. Not many companies work in this segment, and not all of our citizens are ready to accept this type of housing..

Nevertheless, the forecasts for the development of the industry are optimistic. Real estate, as you know, is not going to fall in price yet, which means people will look for an alternative. And building a house or office on water is not so difficult and much more affordable than a capital building. Therefore, companies specializing in surface construction are confident that the demand for their products will grow in the coming years. In addition, it should be noted that in addition to high housing prices, one of the reasons that increase people’s interest in houses on the water is the desire of many residents of large cities to live in nature away from noisy streets..

Diana Card. By the Sea. 2012

However, at the moment this segment of real estate is developing only in large cities and their suburbs. The fact is that in the provinces land and country houses are more accessible, there are no serious problems with land acquisition, and there are enough areas for building in cities..

How much does it cost to build a house on water in Russia

The cost of building a floating house depends on the size, construction technology, decoration and much more. On average, it ranges from 900 to 5 thousand dollars per sq. m. At the same time, the minimum price threshold is for houses with practically no decoration, in fact, with bare walls. If you want to get a dwelling, restaurant or office completely ready for use, then the average price of such an object is about $ 1500-2000 per sq. m.

In order to go ashore, the owner will have to rent 1 running meter of the bank for the ladder.

In addition, when building a house on water, special attention should be paid to the organization of communications, which must strictly comply with the current sanitary standards. It is especially necessary to approach the organization of sewerage carefully, and this is an additional cost. The price of a high-quality modern cleaning system can reach 200 thousand rubles.

Buying a house on the water is just the beginning. The owner still has regular maintenance costs for such housing, as well as a monthly rent of a piece of land. In order to go ashore, the owner will have to rent 1 running meter of the bank for the ladder.

It should also be noted that there are very few ready-made offers on our market; the secondary market in this segment is poorly developed. For these reasons, those wishing to buy a houseboat need to contact not real estate agencies, but companies that are directly involved in the construction of such objects. As a rule, each house is made to order according to an individual project, taking into account the wishes of the client.

Legal aspects

The main feature of houses on the water is that they do not have real estate status. However, the fact that they are not formally real estate does not negate the need to register these objects..

Yes, you do not need to go to the BTI to register this housing, and there is also no need to register ownership of land. Legally, in accordance with current legislation, such objects are classified as floating structures. In fact, most of the houseboats are non-self-propelled small craft.

Mindy Newman. Paris House Boat

Therefore, after launching, such a floating house should be registered with the State Inspectorate for Small Vessels (GIMS), and also receive a ship ticket for it. It is also important to remember that when moving such a house through water bodies, it is necessary to follow the established navigation rules and undergo regular technical inspection..

The only exception may be large landing stages, the dimensions of which exceed the dimensions permissible for a small vessel (length over 15 meters). In this case, it is necessary to register the house in the State River Register.

The advantage of such housing is that you will not have to pay real estate tax. And a minus – it will also not work to register in the house on the water.

In addition, I would like to note that in our country there is no practice of mortgage lending when buying floating houses. Since this object is not real estate, it will not work to get a loan for it. The only option is to get a standard consumer loan, but in this case, the lending conditions are stricter and less favorable than a mortgage.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the Russian floating house market has good growth prospects. Yes, it is still a novelty for us, but there are already examples of successful implementation of such projects. The number of companies engaged in the construction of such facilities is also gradually increasing. Now many shipbuilders, along with classic ships, offer customers to purchase various houseboats..

Of course, our people are unlikely to use them as permanent housing. But such a house on the water can be an excellent alternative to country cottages due to the lower price.