The Regent’s Canal is an oasis in the heart of London. Walkers and cyclists meander along the banks of this long watercourse. Cafes, restaurants and condos have sprung up in the old brown brick industrial buildings that line the canal. Houseboats are moored on the shore. You can even hear the chirping of birds, far from the tumult that envelops the city.
This idyllic setting, however, is the scene of a battle between less affluent citizens and more affluent residents that is gaining momentum with the housing crisis. The boats, which serve as houses for less fortunate people, multiply on the canal. The number of these floating residences has more than doubled in the last decade.
The rapid transformation of this once unloved sector is creating tensions of all kinds. Housing prices have exploded. Older residents are driven out of formerly working-class neighborhoods like Hackney or Angel. The new residents, who have bought condos with “unobstructed views of the canal” at high prices, are tired of seeing hordes of wandering neighbors landing on “their” banks.
In short, it’s a mess. Culture shock. The rich against the poor. The educated, “creative” classes against the popular classes.
Gentrification is rampant along the banks of the Regent’s Canal. A bit like on the banks of the Lachine Canal and in other areas of Montreal. All major cities in the world are experiencing the phenomenon.
An exhausting life
“It is becoming more and more difficult to find a place to dock. There are more obstacles to life on a boat than I thought,” says Aziz Karagil, who has been living on a boat for just over two years.
This young entrepreneur of Turkish origin was horrified by the rent prices when he arrived in London. He couldn’t afford to buy a condo and didn’t want to live with several people. He has invested his savings in the purchase of a modest barge which serves as his residence. “It’s exhausting to live on a boat. It keeps me busy full time,” explains Aziz Karagil. He also manages his business of accessories for pets made from recycled material.
The navigator always has something to plan: the supply of fuel, wood or coal to heat the stove, boat maintenance, repairs. These days, its engine “makes a funny noise and lets out a little smoke”. He doesn’t quite know what to do with it.
An unsuspected difficulty also gives him headaches: people like him feel unwanted in several places along the 13.8 kilometers of Regent’s Canal. The followers of boat life are insulted, thrown stones and come up against a series of administrative obstacles.
too many boats
The boats are becoming too numerous in relation to the mooring spaces, argues the organization Canal & River Trust, which manages navigation. The number of boats has doubled since the 2012 Olympics. Of the 4,000 boats plying London’s canals, more than half have no home port. Roving navigators dock where they can. It creates friction with the residents.
People who live on land complain about the din of diesel engines and generators. Wood or coal stoves, which heat the majority of boats, cause conspicuous smog on winter days. The waste left on the banks by a handful of criminals also harms the reputation of all navigators.
The boats are so numerous that there is not enough space on the sometimes narrow channel. In areas where berthing is permitted, barges park in double or triple rows.
Eco-gentrification
Pilot “eco-mooring” projects have emerged in some sectors. Only boats with electric heating systems are permitted in these controlled areas. One way to implement the “sustainable development” of navigation, according to the Canal & River Trust.
Boat owners are protesting: these pilot projects seek first to exclude the poor, who do not have the means to electrify their boats, according to them.
Under environmental airs, the creation of these “ecological” zones does indeed risk creating social exclusion, according to a study carried out by a researcher from King’s College London. She uses the expression “eco-gentrification” to describe this new phenomenon.
“Boat owners believe that this gentrification of the waterways will lead to the exclusion of ordinary people, who cannot afford to comply with these environmental rules. The most disadvantaged will be pushed even further out of Greater London, into less attractive and less safe areas, ”says the study published in March 2021 by researcher Klaudija Alasauskaite, from the Department of Geography of the prestigious university.
About fifty owners took part in the study. The vast majority relied on a diesel generator for their electricity needs, and a wood stove for heating. An encouraging sign, all respondents had solar panels as a backup source of energy.
” A way of life “
Boat owners compete in ingenuity to provide themselves with a quality of life. Several have set up a vegetable garden on the roof of their houseboat. They travel by bike in town, as evidenced by the mounts attached to the side of the boats. The roofs are also equipped with firewood containers.
” It’s a lifestyle. Yes, it takes a lot of effort, but it’s quite pleasant”, says David Posnett, who is still under the spell of life on the water, three months after the start of his adventure. He likes the solidarity between the “people on the boat”.
Solidarity, these days, takes the form of an outcry against the exclusion of floating residences. The Boat Owners Association is organizing a protest against gentrification at the end of March. Some illegally occupy forbidden spaces.
“The canal is delivered to the highest bidders,” denounces a semi-retired moored near Victoria Park, north-east London. He offers his card and tarot reading services, under the name of Merlin Trotter.
Like all traveling navigators, he must pay more than $1,300 a year for his permit to access Regent’s Canal. It must dock at a new location every 14 days. The rich can buy permanent access rights for up to 20,000 pounds (nearly $35,000) a year.
Merlin is not the type to complain, but he dreads the day when he will have to return to live on dry land: “The neighborhood has changed. Before, housing was affordable. Not anymore. I have a friend who pays 1700 pounds per month (over $2900) plus energy costs for a one bedroom basement unit. »
Reading his cards, Merlin does not see the day when the cost of living will become more affordable.
This report was funded with support from the International Journalism Fund Transat-The duty.