The floating home on the market for £545,000
(Picture: Waterside Residential)A rare chance to run away and join one of London’s creative colonies comes in the form of a floating island home for sale on the River Thames.
Taggs Island, named after 19th-century boat-builder Thomas Tagg, lies half a mile upstream from Hampton Court Palace and is home to a community of 62 houseboats owned by artists, writers and musicians. Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour bought one in 1986 and converted it into floating recording studio Astoria.
On sale now is The Boathouse, one of the island’s largest homes — a three-bedroom houseboat with roof terrace and private garden set in a quiet lagoon. It has a price tag of £545,000, through Water Side Residential.
The Water Side Residential listing states: “Taggs Island is accessed from the Hampton bank and is a short walk to the mainline train station and the many nearby bars, cafes and restaurants as well as the historic Hampton Court Palace.”
Boat-builder Thomas Tagg moved to what is now called Taggs Island in the mid-19th century and turned the island into a pleasure resort for British high society.
The island fell into decline after the First World War, but in the early Eighties the centre of the island was dug out to create a lagoon, which made room for more houseboats.
Today the island’s floating homes are a mix of architectural style. No new houses can be built on the island and it is one of the only Thames islands accessible by a road bridge. The Boathouse comes with a renewable 20-year licence which is thought to cost around £10,000 a year and includes the maintenance costs for the bridge. Each houseboat on the island has an allocated parking space.
Many of the island’s floating homes are in the high-end bracket, such as a five-bedroom modernist houseboat which went on the market for £1.85 million. It had a 3,000sq ft glass pavilion and came with a 125ft river frontage mooring
However the occasional bargains do crop up for those looking to get on the floating property ladder. Last year a two-bedroom houseboat went on sale for £375,000 complete with a roof terrace, garden and a 20-year mooring licence.
