Asked by: Lord Cashman (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they will take to improve the security of tenure, and security of moorings, for residential houseboat dwellers on rivers and waterways.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Responsibility for operational matters on inland waterways rests with the relevant navigation authority, including arrangements for moorings where they are owned by the navigation authority or with the relevant independent mooring owner as appropriate.
The length and security of tenure of houseboat owners will depend on the terms they agree with the mooring owner. The terms of the agreement issued by the mooring owner must comply with the unfair terms in consumer contracts requirements in the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Boat owners with residential moorings will also benefit from the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.