What I Rent: We swapped our Philadelphia townhome for a £1,750-a-month London houseboat

Welcome back to What I Rent – Metro’s tenant diary series exploring what renting is like in the UK and further afield.

For last week’s sister column, What I Own, we looked back on a previous visit to Brighton, where 36-year-old Biro Florin bought his £1million townhouse outright in 2023.

This week, we’re back in London visiting Maisy Dewey and Harrison Kent, who moved from Philadelphia last year.

As they struggled to find a pet-friendly property that would accommodate their fluffy friend, Kipper Von Spot, they took the plunge and rented a houseboat on the Thames.

Here’s what Maisy had to say about their renting journey…

Tell us about yourself!

I was born in Philadelphia and grew up in New Jersey with my three sisters. My love for art and design took me to The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), where I studied graphic design and where I met my fiancé, Harrison Kent.

Toward the end of my time at SCAD, I started posting on TikTok just for fun, sharing little bits of my day-to-day life (@maisydewey). After graduating, I started a job at Anthropologie’s home office, where I worked in print design for two years.

During that time Harrison and I got my dream dog, Kipper Von Spot, who quickly became a star on my TikTok. In 2023, Harrison and I got engaged and moved to London, where Harrison is completing his Masters in Furniture Design at Kingston University.

I’m still working as a graphic designer in the fashion industry and continuing to share my life on social media! 

Whereabouts is your property? What do you think of the area?

We’re on the River Thames in Central London. We’re very fortunate to be centrally located while still having a bit of an oasis on the dock. We also have easy access to public transportation.

When did you move in?

November of 2023.

How much do you pay in rent and bills?

Along with £1,750 in rent each month, we pay for electricity; this bill varies greatly depending on the season but is typically around £40 per month.

To save for our deposit, which cost us £2,019, we put on kerbside sales for a month prior to our move to London. We sold everything aside from our essentials which we brought with us.

Where did you live before this?

We were renting a townhome in the centre of Philadelphia – which was very different to a boat!

How did you find this property? What made you choose it?

We were new to London and having difficulty finding an affordable and dog-friendly flat to rent.

A letting agent called us to tell us a viewing we had scheduled for later that day had been cancelled, though he had another option for us to see but we would need to keep an open mind.

We honestly viewed the boat mostly out of curiosity, but we were very impressed by the interior, the location, the size and the price!

How have you made the property feel like home? What’s the inspiration for your interior decor style?

Having a space that feels like home is very important to Harrison and me. As we are both designers, we’re constantly thinking of ways to improve our space. 

Our initial strategy for bringing our personalities to the boat’s interior has been adding some of the art we have collected over the years.

Since Harrison is a furniture designer, he has built a renter-friendly countertop add-on in the kitchen – we have also just added a chair from his first furniture design exhibition.

In the future we hope to add more touches of contemporary and antique furnishings.

What’s your favourite room and why?

The roof! This is basically like our 65-foot deck, and we spend as much time up there as possible. It’s a huge bonus of the boat to have so much outdoor space. We love enjoying the views on warm days.

Do you feel like you have enough space?

Yes! It’s certainly not as spacious as we have had in the past, but it’s plenty of room for the three of us. There’s also much more storage than you might expect, so it’s worked out as the most efficient use of space we’ve ever had.

Are there any problems with the property that you have to deal with?

Because of the nature of the location, we do see a bit of wildlife right on our doorstep. We’ve even had birds leave headless eels for us to find so had to clean that up.

Other than that, I would say it’s more ‘inconvenience’ than problems. For example, we have to fill our water tank in order to have water on the boat, be aware of the temperature in the winter to look out for frozen pipes, and scrub the deck every so often. None of these chores really bother us though – we think it’s worth it.

What are your plans for the future, in terms of housing? Do you plan to stay here long-term?

We hope to stay living aboard the boat for as long as possible. We’re very happy here. 

Shall we take a look around?

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

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