This has brought to light the fact that barges / houseboats on leisure moorings do not get charged council tax as, like a motorhome or touring caravan parked on someone's drive, they are not homes and don't stay in one place, whereas if they are on residential moorings (which are very hard to get in a lot of places, the waiting lists are extremely long so most people wanting them buy a boat that comes with a residential mooring already) they are considered permanent dwellings and are assessed for council tax. I have friends with a house that they live in and pay council tax on, and a narrowboat that lives in a marina most of the time but they also spend several weeks each year meandering around canals and rivers on, and which they don't pay council tax on.
If we consider a houseboat on a leisure mooring like a motorhome or touring caravan on someone's drive that no-one is living in full time, should this class of dwelling fall into the scope of council tax or should it not? If they should be treated differently, why? Asking motorhome and touring caravan owners particularly, would you be happy to pay council tax on your mobile dwelling to keep it on your drive? There then becomes a second question about enforcement of leisure moorings as non-residential to ensure no-one is actually using it as their permanent home, which is currently down to the marina, if they care. And if someone lives on a houseboat and tours all the time rather than staying in the same marina, to whom do they pay council tax?
