I put the Regents canal on eBay in July 2015
This
m.ebay.com/itm/321792657401 yes i am "keen2goboating"
Advert text (my copyright)
Breaking for parts - vintage classic South English canal system - all parts available. This auction is for a bolt previously used as part of a lock gate.
This item has been relisted due to timewasters (aka "bidders"). The previous listing was removed by the seller due to misuse of the 'bid' option resulting in a steady increase in the price of the item.
No bidding is allowed on this item until the last 25 seconds of the auction at which point you can all go mad if you want to. Its much more exciting like that.
All other bids will be ignored or cancelled and excessive bidding will result in removal of the item from the site. Thank you.
Regents Canal for sale as a whole or in parts - as required.
The time has come to sell off the Regents Canal (and part of the paddington arm of the Grand Union) as it has become too full of scruffy boats not paying anything to moor in Zone 1 and 2 in London and just shuffling about a bit now and then to get water or empty their 3rd world sanitary facilities. This is allowed currently under the 1995 British Waterways "We have no teeth" Act allowing virtually any 'cruising pattern' to be legal, including going for water every two weeks then back to a favourite mooring for another 13 days or whatever.
So obviously its going to fill up as its only about £500 p.a. for a 'cruising license' which allows you to effectively live in Zone 2 or 1 in London. This is clearly too cheap which is why the canal as a whole or in part (for example just the good bits of it like that little bit between the water and the footpath/property development) has been put on the market. If you are of the asset-stripper disposition we can discuss this over a quality lunch overlooking the Thames somewhere nice.
This (London Zone 1 and 2 and the nicer bits of the suburbs further out) is a part of the country where ordinary "Hard Working Families" pay well over a thousand pounds a month to service someone else's mortgage (BTL Landlord parasite type arrangment) and live in poorly maintained draughty Victorian conversion flats with dodgy kitchens, bad quality bathrooms and lack of light due to bodged extensions. And lack of on street parking due to too many residents.
Its deeply shocking to some that a world class capital city has its beautiful canal packed with nackered old fibreglass cruisers, dodgily overplated Springers and past-their-sell-by-date Harborough Marine narrow boats as well as the occasional really quite smart brand new wide beam with luxury bathroom and Working Central Heating. Not to mention the vast numbers of completely unseaworthy lumps of iron coming over from the Netherlands - also known as "nice looking boats".
So its time to turn a profit from this wonderful piece of English architectural and industrial heritage.
This auction is for a bolt previously used to hold part of a lock gate to another part of a lock gate.
However the length of canal currently for sale "as seen" is from Kensal Green gas works (Scrubs Lane Bridge No.6) to Limehouse Basin Marina (Commercial road Bridge No.64). Approximate start and end points are shown in the photos for reference.
The third picture shows a typical towpath scene and indicates the general situation fairly well regards potential income generation from moorings.
A bike ride along the towpath will be worthwhile for potential investors in order to appreciate the existing arrangements (please ting your bell twice be nice and slow down past pedestrians specially older and younger members of society out enjoying the amenity value). If you do ring your bell be careful if the pedestrian turns around as some of the more tidy looking males in their 20s and 30s have extreme beards which present a collision risk if met side on.
For sale is the land the canal is cut through, the navigation rights and the mooring rights for land owned currently by Canal & River Trust. Generally there is a small portion of land each side which was awarded to the canal company with the original enabling acts. Prospective purchasers are advised to employ a decent legal type person to check out if there actually are any rights or who owns what as its all a bit unclear.
There is the obvious option to hit existing residential boat users for about £5-10k per annum each or more depending on exact location and mooring size (length x breadth) for the privilege of a zone 2/1 mooring. There would be fairly minimal installations required such as water and 'lectric to enable boats to be moored without agitating nearby residents of massively overvaluable land based dwellings and creating pollution nuisance.
Other roi opportunities exist if looked for carefully. Fishing rights are included in the sale but there is currently nothing worth catching in this ditch. Deliberate stocking of stupidly big carp could be carried out followed by aggressive fee collection by bailiffs who are able to speak multiple eastern European languages and can swim.
There is clear demand for luxury gated visitor moorings for "shiny boats" with big wallets on board. We believe there is also an opportunity to carry expensive brass tat in miniature boat-based chandleries and touristy museum type gear made in China for people who want souvenirs of their visit.
A obvious potential development opportunity exists here. The canal is simply land on which someone has put water at some point. As has been demonstrated in East London/Isle of dogs it is fairly straightforward to convert what was once a man made watercourse back to land and build offices or dwelling units on it.
There may exist a public footpath however it is not believed that any cycling right of ways exist as yet. With the current situation regards cycling (saving the planet etc etc) this is subject to change and potential purchasers are advised to take advice on that.
The decision has been taken to offload this "problem area" and concentrate charity funding on holiday theme park type areas of the canal network like the South Oxford with its Coffin Locks specially including Somerton Burial Chamber and the Shropshire Onion specially including the Welsh branch with that long iron trough stuck up in the air packed with american tourists.
This item is for sale elsewhere and can be withdrawn at any time without notice. Richard Branson said he is getting a bit old for this kind of risk and that he can't sell it to anyone before he buys it. Qatar have been reviewing the figures as has Beijing. George Soros said he wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Belway Homes have approached us to clarify the situation regarding infilling and rights of way along the canal bank or "towing path".
This sale is Vacant possession upon completion.
We know the towpaths look like they are full of boats permanently moored but we can assure all potential investors that we are sorting it out. Thanks to Peterboat for the question as this is an important point to raise.
Thanks for looking. Come back soon as this listing is being updated daily as we think of more roi strategies. Any suggestions on that are welcomed.
(please note - The sale of the Kennet & Avon (Western section) is under discussion and it may appear here soon depending on the success of this pilot scheme)