They say owning a boat is like standing in a cold shower while tearing up \u00a310 notes.<\/p>\n
But one boat-owner fears he may well have thrown hundreds of thousands of pounds down the drain while still on dry land, after a misjudged investment in a luxury Norfolk Broads boathouse.<\/p>\n
John Atkins’ retirement plans have been left in tatters after buying what he hoped would be his nest egg in the village of Horning.<\/p>\n
Late summer Sunday sailing event at Horning (Image: Mike Page)<\/p>\n
The property developer from Hertfordshire invested in a \u00a3440,000 boat shed, which included accommodation he thought could be used overnight.<\/p>\n
His plan was to use the one-bed facility as a holiday let, which he could rent out to visitors to the Broads, a place he has grown to love after visiting for several years.<\/p>\n
The income would have helped support his retirement plans, to move to the Norfolk Broads and spend his days out on the water.<\/p>\n
But unfortunately for Mr Atkins, 65, has since fallen foul of the Broads Authority’s strict planning rules for the village, which mean no one is permitted to stay overnight in it.<\/p>\n
The bedroom at the boathouse in Horning (Image: John Atkins\/Broads Authority)<\/p>\n
He is now exploring what other options are available and still hopes a different tactic can gain permission for the boathouse to be used as a home.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, he worries he will be forced to sell the property at a significantly lower price.<\/p>\n
The rules were in place at the time he bought the boathouse, but Mr Atkins feels he was “misinformed” about the prospect of being able to stay there by people he had consulted before the purchase.<\/p>\n
“It is frustrating,” he said. “But it was also my naivety. I also blame myself. I have potentially lost part of a big investment.<\/p>\n
Boats stored in the Horning boatshed (Image: John Atkins\/Broads Authority)<\/p>\n
“It will be a huge blow to my retirement. If I can’t use it as a holiday let, I will probably have to sell it for about half of what I paid for it.”<\/p>\n
The family bought the boatshed in 2023.<\/p>\n
The property, on a dyke just off the river Bure, was originally built in 2012, with space for boats below and a bedroom, living room, kitchen, utility room and bathroom created in the traditional ‘sail loft’ space above.<\/p>\n
The kitchen and dining room area at the Horning boatshed (Image: John Atkins\/Broads Authority)<\/p>\n
Although Broads Authority officials had granted permission for the structure, they had imposed restrictions preventing it from being used for overnight holiday accommodation.<\/p>\n
The ban is in place to stop the overdevelopment of places like Horning, one of the most desirable areas on the waterways.<\/p>\n
However, the previous owners said they had been using it as a holiday let for 10 years, which would mean it would gain automatic planning permission due to the length of use regardless of planning permission.<\/p>\n
The living room at the Horning boathouse (Image: John Atkins\/Broads Authority)<\/p>\n
But the BA said there was insufficient evidence to prove it was used as a holiday let and that regardless, it was in breach of the conditions.<\/p>\n
Government officials have also ruled against a recent appeal by Mr Atkins, attempting to overturn the BA’s refusal of permission for the boathouse to be used as a home.<\/p>\n
John Atkins, who has run a construction company for several years (Image: John Atkins)<\/p>\n
He is now considering his next steps and is seeking professional planning advice to see what use could be possible.<\/p>\n
But to really rub salt into the wound, he has still been having to pay a 100pc tax premium on the property due to a second home levy.<\/p>\n
A busy day on the water in Horning (Image: Newsquest)<\/p>\n
“I have been told I can’t live in it but North Norfolk District Council are still happy to charge me double council tax,” Mr Atkins said.<\/p>\n
Despite his boathouse folly, Mr Atkins is still looking forward to moving permanently to the Norfolk Broads to enjoy his retirement, he says after having “worked hard all his life” in the building trade.<\/p>\n
He is currently working on finishing the “house of his dreams” nearby and will soon move in.<\/p>\n
He added that he has no hard feelings towards the BA, understanding its strict policies are there to protect the environment from harm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They say owning a boat is like standing in a cold shower while tearing up \u00a310 notes. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,142245,142243,142246,142244,4174,4175,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-373307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-holiday-accommodation","tag-john-atkins","tag-mr-atkins","tag-norfolk-broads","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}