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Sunday 1 May 2022

This apartment-sized floating home has two bedrooms and its own rooftop garden - take a look

The Float1 floating home.
Abby Wallace/Insider.

This houseboat has tinted windows and an outdoor terrace where occupants can overlook the marina.
The floating home is around the same size as the average-sized apartment in London.
To buy the home, you'll have to pay around $223,000.

The Float1 home is split over two levels. At nearly 800 square feet, it's larger than many apartments in London

The lower level is spacious enough for two double bedrooms, a shower room, and an open-plan living space, including a kitchen, dining and living area...

One of the bedrooms inside the floating home.
Abby Wallace/Insider.

... while the entire upper level is taken up by an outside terrace which is spacious enough for garden furniture, a barbecue, water toys, and deck chairs.

The terrace space on the Float1 floating home.
Abby Wallace/Insider.

Kev Draper, the managing director at the floating home's development company, Float8, said the outside terrace was the "bonus point" of the houseboat.

The floating home also has floor-to-ceiling, tinted windows for privacy.

Inside the Float1 floating home.
Abby Wallace/Insider.

As one of the smaller homes in Float8's fleet, the houseboat costs upwards of £175,000, or around $223,000.

One of the bedrooms inside the Float1 floating home.
Abby Wallace/Insider.

But the developer also boasts several other models, including the Float6 which costs around £215,000, or $274,000, and has space for up to three bedrooms and six people.

Draper told Insider that a variety of buyers are interested in purchasing the company's floating homes, comprising a mix of holidaymakers and people looking for permanent residences. The majority of customers are typically aged between 40 and 50, he added.

The bathroom in the Float1 floating home.
Abby Wallace/Insider.

The houseboat can only be used on inland waterways and marinas. Float8 has a show home docked in London's Canary Wharf, but the company is also looking to to expand to other parts of the UK.

Draper told Insider that the pandemic had "shaken everybody up" when considering their property purchases, adding that the company has witnessed an uptick in interest in floating homes.