A student is avoiding the high costs of London university accommodation by living on a renovated houseboat.
Charlotte Tindle, 18, who is set to start a course at the Tech Music School, worried about living costs when she found out student halls in Fulham cost £1,000 per month.
So when her father, a design consultant, came up with the idea to renovate a narrowboat she leapt at the chance.
Miss Tindle, a music production student, spent her summer refurbishing the three-bedroom boat. She is currently travelling from her home in Leicester to find a mooring spot in the capital.
She told the Standard: “It was my dad’s idea, it is an investment really. We found one that was empty, we have renovated it. It was an empty shell before when we built it."
She continued: “We have done it all up. Everything inside was done by the help of friends and some stuff. My dad did the inside and my mum painted all of the outside.”
The houseboat cost the family £37,000, around the same price as renting, but her parents plan to sell it and make a profit when she completes her course.
Miss Tindle said: “Student accommodation would have been £1,000 a month which would have been too much. It works out the same over three years, but hopefully we will sell it and make a little bit more than we paid for it.
“We would not have spent anything, it would be like getting the money back, instead of having a massive loan.”
The boat, named Alleluja, includes a bedroom with a double bed, a dining room which can be turned into a bed and a lounge with a sofa bed. There is also a kitchen, a 32-inch flat screen and modern furnishings.
