Landlord Harassment

[Hazy-Haze]

For me, I would start looking for a different mooring. Even if you go down the legal route it will probably turn everything super toxic. Yes you might get them prosecuted under the Equality Act, but it might also turn the whole marina against you. If you find after no one talks to you any more and you have become the community pariah, it's not going to be a good place to live and it's going to impact you mentally. Plus you can't prosecute people for ignoring you.

I'm all for using the law appropriately, but the canal system and it's communities are a bit different to if you live in a house on a street. I'd start exploring finding a new marina or finding one of the CRT long term moorings. Unfortunately, there aren't many and even less residential which is probably a perk of your current marina. But living somewhere where the people hate you is not going to be a good experience. It's bad enough when you have bad neighbours in a house next door, but on a boat at least you can move your house to find somewhere without bad neighbours.

But I don't think there are any good outcomes from this. Maybe neutral outcomes, but probably not positive ones.

I think @joint_account probably has it down with the landlord adopting a scorched earth policy.

I think you need to talk to the CRT as well as the Ombudsman. The council generally treat anyone not in a house the same way, like the various travelling communities, but you could approach them. the biggest problem you have is all of these groups will probably have no clue about MC use and legalities. Although i have never seen anything about piloting a boat under the influence and specifically never anything to do with piloting a narrowboat, I do wonder if that might come up, so go prepared with all the information.

 

[Terpinolord]

Hi med buddy. I lived on a narrow boat for 11 years and only move to dry land 2 years ago.

It sounds like people or someone on site doesn’t like cannabis and associates the odour with illegality .

I’ve seen people suggesting you report them for harassment, i’m not sure how far this will get you. I have not read all of the thread but it sounds like this particular neighbour is making their opinion felt.

My only concern or advice is that you are on a private marina and it’s up to them if they allow you to stay and it’s up to them if they think you’ve breached the rules ultimately it’s their property and they can ask you to leave if they feel other residents are upset by your behaviour illegal or not.

If you own the boat, I would suggest you find another marina or look at continuously cruising. I used to go on an evening walk to try and avoid any confrontation and regularly heard other boaters talking of the ‘druggie boats’ down on the dilapidated moorings further up river. I would nod and hide my legal medical use.

 

[Grumbleweed]

It's a surprising one for sure, and more so since medical is legal but I haven't got a clue about being evicted from a residential mooring, worst case scenario, can the boat move if an eviction is ordered? and Are there other mooring sites in the locality?

I had a river boat on a trailer 20 years back, named to troll the haters and found quite a lot of pot smokers on the river, which is ok if your mooring owner is ok with it, the only one I seemed to annoy was the river policeman, he'd leave me a ticket for no licence every time he saw her moored, even though he'd see which boats had bought a licence from the slip keeper, I'd peel them off and stick them to his boat where he moored it, I don't think the guy liked me to be honest

 

[Joint Account]

Hi med buddy. I lived on a narrow boat for 11 years and only move to dry land 2 years ago.

It sounds like people or someone on site doesn’t like cannabis and associates the odour with illegality .

I’ve seen people suggesting you report them for harassment, i’m not sure how far this will get you. I have not read all of the thread but it sounds like this particular neighbour is making their opinion felt.

My only concern or advice is that you are on a private marina and it’s up to them if they allow you to stay and it’s up to them if they think you’ve breached the rules ultimately it’s their property and they can ask you to leave if they feel other residents are upset by your behaviour illegal or not.

If you own the boat, I would suggest you find another marina or look at continuously cruising. I used to go on an evening walk to try and avoid any confrontation and regularly heard other boaters talking of the ‘druggie boats’ down on the dilapidated moorings further up river. I would nod and hide my legal medical use.

The more i've learned about this the more it winds me up.

I just imagine a wheelchair user with a squeeky wheelchair being asked to leave because the noise of the squeeking is an inconvenience. Somebody with a disability should not be denied a service that everyone else gets because their particular condition requires a specific aid that people aren't fond of. You wouldn't find this in any other area of the UK but it seems these private Marina's can do as they please.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

I'd peel them off and stick them to his boat where he moored it, I don't think the guy liked me to be honest

I miss the simpler times. Horatio Hornblower reporting in.

New post automatically merged: 18th Jun, 2026

The more i've learned about this the more it winds me up.

I just imagine a wheelchair user with a squeeky wheelchair being asked to leave because the noise of the squeeking is an inconvenience. Somebody with a disability should not be denied a service that everyone else gets because their particular condition requires a specific aid that people aren't fond of. You wouldn't find this in any other area of the UK but it seems these private Marina's can do as they please.

As much as I agree with social justice etc, Private property is private property.
You can do what you like if you own something yourself.
There is no social obligation to provide people moorings for a private property owner.

 

[Joint Account]

I miss the simpler times. Horatio Hornblower reporting in.

New post automatically merged: 18th Jun, 2026

As much as I agree with social justice etc, Private property is private property.
You can do what you like if you own something yourself. And for the last time the people are not landlords. There is no land involved in this conversation.
There is no social obligation to provide people moorings for a private property owner.

but it isn't that cut and dry private property isn't private property if you run a limited business from it. if I own a caravan site, I own the space but I also run a business renting out spaces. I can't discriminate in who I do business with. I can say nothing and give no reason but I can't actively discriminate as a business. I would love to see some case law of somebody being discriminated against by a on-water business to see how things unfolded.

If OP was just a lodger, or a friend using some space then the owner can do what they want, if they're running a business they cannot...again, unless its on water apparently.

You seem to have me confused, it's not about landlords, it's about running a business and refusing service based on disability. That's where actionable side of things are.

I would be shocked if OPs marina owner isn't a limited business.

Again, at no point am I talking about landlords in the renting a house sense. If I've used the term landlord its simply as a synonym for owner.

New post automatically merged: 18th Jun, 2026

And for the last time the people are not landlords.

Don't get an attitude fella.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

I feel people miss a bit of history and how laws were established. The law of the land is very different from the law of the sea.
Laws concerning property and rights are very hard fought back to the Magna Carta. Being at a Marina means the people pay no council tax along with many other things so they are already operating in a "citizen" grey area.

We have had a lot of debate in the UK and abroad about obligations. I remember a few court cases where businesses were made bankrupt because they refused to bake cakes for certain people.
I think this is compounded by in England the trespass laws being slightly different than Scotland in terms of implied right of access.
TLDR I have to push back that I think that the person is well within their rights to decide who they want to berth on their private property and members are overreacting about injustices.
Maybe they just dont like smelly french cheese and the person keep bringing out out the Roquefort. You are not obliged to put up with other peoples way of life.

 

[Joint Account]

I feel people miss a bit of history and how laws were established. The law of the land is very different from the law of the sea.
Laws concerning property and rights are very hard fought back to the Magna Carta. Being at a Marina means the people pay no council tax along with many other things so they are already operating in a "citizen" grey area.

We have had a lot of debate in the UK and abroad about obligations. I remember a few court cases where businesses were made bankrupt because they refused to bake cakes for certain people.
I think this is compounded by in England the trespass laws being slightly different than Scotland in terms of implied right of access.
TLDR I have to push back that I think that the person is well within their rights to decide who they want to berth on their private property and members are overreacting about injustices.
Maybe they just dont like smelly french cheese and the person keep bringing out out the Roquefort. You are not obliged to put up with other peoples way of life.

I understand land/space ownership laws are different, that bit was made clear but the bit I'm seeing absolutely no evidence for is that a registered ltd company can actively discriminate against someone and deprive them of a service simply because they have some kind of waterway protection. - this is the bit I really need to see something for and I'm searching high and low for some kind of case law or ombudsman explanation.

I'm even scrolling the case summaries section of the water way obudsman to see if I can find anything discrimination or disability related but I can't find anything one way or the other.

I'm not calling anyone wrong in this, I'm just really struggling to understand where they get this power of discrimination from and I would really like to see the legal wording or similar.

the Marina could have just said we don't want to continue the lease. end of. If they say we don't want to continue the lease because of your medical cannabis, I believe that opens them up for all sorts of trouble.

That said, as was established many paragraphs and many comments ago, this isn't going to just go away or get better. For the law to work you need people to respect the law and enforce it, which lets face it, isn't going to happen here.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

I'm just really struggling to understand where they get this power of discrimination from and I would really like to see the legal wording or similar.

Its not discrimination.
You are discriminating against the rights of private property owners. The person is devoid of rights as they do not fall under tenant rights charter.
Basically in England there is trespass laws not like in Scotland.
So in England it would be a simple case of trespass the moment that you got out of your boat. Scotland as I say as long as you do not show a desire to remain there is no trespass law.
The owner does not come under discrimination act under landlords responsibilities and well established law.
Basically you are right in that its not covered under specific waterway rules or is a loophole. However it is covered under rules that would be enforced being private property.

 

[Joint Account]

Its not discrimination.
You are discriminating against the rights of private property owner. The person is devoid of rights as they do not fall under tenant rights charter.
Basically in England there is trespass laws not like in Scotland.
So in England it would be a simple case of trespass the moment that you got out of your boat. Scotland as I say as long as you do not show a desire to remain there is no trespass law.
The owner does not come under discrimination under landlords responsibilities and well established law.
Basically you are right in that its not covered under the rules or is a loophole. However it is covered under rules that would be enforced being private property.

So have I misunderstood what OPs living situation is here a little bit?

In my head the Owner owns a marina, this marina has the boats and they rent those spaces out like any limited company would a car parking spot or a caravan spot, etc. any kind of area to rent. I would have thought that license agreement would have given them protected rights like anybody else. But it seems from what you're saying the owner can put a sign up saying "no disabled people allowed" and there would be no laws broken with that. - which I admittedly find incredibly hard to believe but I can't find anything to dispute it. It appears this sort of dispute is incredibly rare.

To throw another scenario, to help me understand - if I become a licensee, then have a car crash during the license period and I become wheelchair bound. The owner for whatever reasons hates wheelchairs and so do the other residents. Does the marina owner reserve the right to ask the licensee to leave because of the wheelchair?

From the little I have read, providing its a business and not some random bloke of the books, they can ask you to leave and provide no reason but they cannot ask you to leave and provide any reason as some reasons will not be lawful.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

But it seems from what you're saying the owner can put a sign up saying "no disabled people allowed" and there would be no laws broken with that. - which I admittedly find incredibly hard to believe but I can't find anything to dispute it. It appears this sort of dispute is incredibly rare.

To throw another scenario, to help me understand - if I become a licensee, then have a car crash during the license period and I become wheelchair bound. The owner for whatever reasons hates wheelchairs and so do the other residents. Does the marina owner reserve the right to ask the licensee to leave because of the wheelchair?

From the little I have read, providing its a business and not some random bloke of the books, they can ask you to leave and provide no reason but they cannot ask you to leave and provide any reason as some reasons will not be lawful.

The only thing that is holding responsibilities at the moment is contract law. There is a contract to remain that has been signed between the OP and the owner of the mooring spot,
This contract is binding and the OP is not in breach of this. It seems like the owner is trying to make them to be in breach of this so they can remove them by pushing this ridiculous Medical Cannabis angle.
The OP will have no issues in my opinion remaining for the length of his short term contract to stay at mooring and the owner would be unsuccessful getting a breach of anything.
The main issue is that he has no rights once their short lease contract expires to remain in an area that they have invested a lot of their life in. If this was a land dwelling and a social tenant then they would have rights under tenant charter.

In terms of your examples there its just all bound by the contract. There is no rights involved in this case which is why I keep sperging away. No tenants rights, No landlords rights Nothing that people spend centuries fighting over to stop abuse of people by landlords with power.
It sucks.
Sorry if my tone is a bit too autistic in these exchanges. Its part of the furniture im afraid...
I love everyone. (Except marina owners)

 

[Joint Account]

The only thing that is holding responsibilities at the moment is contract law. There is a contract to remain that has been signed between the OP and the owner of the mooring spot,
This contract is binding and the OP is not in breach of this. It seems like the owner is trying to make them to be in breach of this so they can remove them by pushing this ridiculous Medical Cannabis angle.
The OP will have no issues in my opinion remaining for the length of his short term contract to stay at mooring and the owner would be unsuccessful getting a breach of anything.
The main issue is that he has no rights once their short lease contract expires to remain in an area that they have invested a lot of their life in. If this was a land dwelling and a social tenant then they would have rights under tenant charter.

In terms of your examples there its just all bound by the contract. There is no rights involved in this case which is why I keep sperging away. No tenants rights, No landlords rights Nothing that people spend centuries fighting over to stop abuse of people by landlords with power.
It sucks.
Sorry if my tone is a bit too autistic in these exchanges. Its part of the furniture im afraid...
I love everyone. (Except marina owners)

No need to apologise mate, I've been equally as prickly so apologies if I've pissed you off at any point.

So when it comes to the new lease, lets say it was a brand new lease and you're foreign, the owner could say "we don't like foreign people here so we won't lease to you" and even if that was in writing it would be absolutely fine from a legal perspective and providing they don't move into hate crime territory.

that blows my mind mate, that should not be a thing in 2026.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

So when it comes to the new lease, lets say it was a brand new lease and you're foreign, the owner could say "we don't like foreign people here so we won't lease to you" and even if that was in writing it would be absolutely fine from a legal perspective and providing they don't move into hate crime territory.

Exactly what I mean by tenant rights act.
We moved away in the 1900's from a sign outside that said "No Scots, No Irish No Dogs"
I have changed some of that to be less offensive I did not intend any offence with this statement. I love the Irish, I am Scottish and I want a dog.
Unfortunately like pirate radio stations on the water rules be different.

 

[Joint Account]

Exactly what I mean by tenant rights act.
We moved away in the 1900's from a sign outside that said "No Scots, No Irish No Dogs"
I have changed some of that to be less offensive I did not intend any offence with this statement. I love the Irish, I am Scottish and I want a dog.
Unfortunately like pirate radio stations on the water rules be different.

I appreciate the explanation, I'm sure I couldn't have been the only person confused by its backwards nature!

I hope OP manages to get this sorted but from what you're saying the marina owner has all the power when it comes to renewal time sadly.

New post automatically merged: 18th Jun, 2026

@Fiddlesticks, out of interest how do you know so much about this? did you live on a boat previously?

 

[NuggetofGreen]

Exactly what I mean by tenant rights act.
We moved away in the 1900's from a sign outside that said "No Scots, No Irish No Dogs"
I have changed some of that to be less offensive I did not intend any offence with this statement. I love the Irish, I am Scottish and I want a dog.
Unfortunately like pirate radio stations on the water rules be different.

As a 2nd generation potato that one resonated and those signs were still up in the 60s and early 70s

Original artist Niall Conlon

 

[Fiddlesticks]

@Fiddlesticks, out of interest how do you know so much about this? did you live on a boat previously?

Hmmm Im a strange one. Leave it like that. My lifes mission is to know things. I have organised protest sites and was a bit of an Anarchist when that still existed as a "thing"
Got fairly involved in thwarting eviction processes.

 

[Joint Account]

Hmmm Im a strange one. Leave it like that. My lifes mission is to know things. I have organised protest sites and was a bit of an Anarchist when that still existed as a "thing"
Got fairly involved in thwarting eviction processes.

You sure know how to sow some mystery about you. - Sounds like you've certainly lived and then some mate.

As soon as you mentioned anarchists I pictured Rodney from that Fools and Horses episode where he joins the band.

 

[Hazy-Haze]

I feel people miss a bit of history and how laws were established. The law of the land is very different from the law of the sea.
Laws concerning property and rights are very hard fought back to the Magna Carta. Being at a Marina means the people pay no council tax along with many other things so they are already operating in a "citizen" grey area.

Yes and no. There are residential moorings, that are usually more expensive, so 4.5k/year instead of 2.2k/year, where you get a postbox, but you also pay council tax. If you have a good job and really want the postbox (it does get rid of a ton of hassle with banks, etc) then residential moorings are where it's at. But there aren't a lot of them.

Most people go leisure moorings, but they are a shit show in themselves. You aren't supposed to stay on them all the time and some marinas enforce it. After reading a thread on Canalworld a few months back, it seems a loophole of sorts exists. You buy a cheap mooring somewhere, but you never spend any time there. You continuously cruise, but having a mooring removes the need to move a certain distance per month as you are no longer classed aas a continuous cruiser, but a tourist. That means you can just move say a mile up the canal on temporary moorings, then come back down a mile and rinse, repeat. Having the mooring nullifies some of the issues continuous cruisers have (and to be honest it creates a home base that you can fall back too, which for me is more of a boon, even if you never set foot there, you have somewhere you could go if you got seriously ill or needed to be elsewhere for a while).

We have had a lot of debate in the UK and abroad about obligations. I remember a few court cases where businesses were made bankrupt because they refused to bake cakes for certain people.

This does piss me off. It's a free world and if your religion means you can't bake a cake for a gay couple, so be it. Find someone else to bake the cake. No one wins in those situations. You stoke up anti-minority sentiment and if you ever need help from those people, they will tell you to go do one. No one should be able to force someone in that situation and it should never get to court. If a person has a good reason, like religion, then that should be it and people should show some common sense.

I think this is compounded by in England the trespass laws being slightly different than Scotland in terms of implied right of access.
TLDR I have to push back that I think that the person is well within their rights to decide who they want to berth on their private property and members are overreacting about injustices.

Agreed. After much thought, I personally would send a letter, possibly legal (via a solicitor ideally or cc one into the conversation, CAB might be able to help him on that if he is low income) asking for termination of contract and refund of remaining rental fees. Cite harassment which is contrary to the Equality Act (2010). But also that you don't want to go that route and if the other party finds it preferable, he could refund you the remaining months and you will move off the marina. That's the legal bit done. Get the money back and move somewhere else. Hopefully his new neighbours are not bell ends.

Explain to the CRT that he is moving due to harassment but don't expand on that unless they specifically ask. Find another mooring. Move to that mooring.

It sounds like this has been going on for a while, so this isn't going to go away even if the nuclear option is used. You either nip it in the bud early or you deal with it later on when you can't do that. But consequences stack over time. I also know moving is no cake walk, given the limited number of moorings around most towns and cities. but what else can you do.

New post automatically merged: 18th Jun, 2026

My lifes mission is to know things.

Sounds like an intel background. I won't push though, but know people who lived that life and in a couple of cases still do it.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

Yes and no. There are residential moorings, that are usually more expensive, so 4.5k/year instead of 2.2k/year, where you get a postbox, but you also pay council tax. If you have a good job and really want the postbox (it does get rid of a ton of hassle with banks, etc) then residential moorings are where it's at. But there aren't a lot of them.

Most people go leisure moorings, but they are a shit show in themselves. You aren't supposed to stay on them all the time and some marinas enforce it. After reading a thread on Canalworld a few months back, it seems a loophole of sorts exists. You buy a cheap mooring somewhere, but you never spend any time there. You continuously cruise, but having a mooring removes the need to move a certain distance per month as you are no longer classed aas a continuous cruiser, but a tourist. That means you can just move say a mile up the canal on temporary moorings, then come back down a mile and rinse, repeat. Having the mooring nullifies some of the issues continuous cruisers have (and to be honest it creates a home base that you can fall back too, which for me is more of a boon, even if you never set foot there, you have somewhere you could go if you got seriously ill or needed to be elsewhere for a while).

This is really informative and appreciate all of your post. Thankyou.

 

[Joint Account]

Yes and no. There are residential moorings, that are usually more expensive, so 4.5k/year instead of 2.2k/year, where you get a postbox, but you also pay council tax. If you have a good job and really want the postbox (it does get rid of a ton of hassle with banks, etc) then residential moorings are where it's at. But there aren't a lot of them.

Most people go leisure moorings, but they are a shit show in themselves. You aren't supposed to stay on them all the time and some marinas enforce it. After reading a thread on Canalworld a few months back, it seems a loophole of sorts exists. You buy a cheap mooring somewhere, but you never spend any time there. You continuously cruise, but having a mooring removes the need to move a certain distance per month as you are no longer classed aas a continuous cruiser, but a tourist. That means you can just move say a mile up the canal on temporary moorings, then come back down a mile and rinse, repeat. Having the mooring nullifies some of the issues continuous cruisers have (and to be honest it creates a home base that you can fall back too, which for me is more of a boon, even if you never set foot there, you have somewhere you could go if you got seriously ill or needed to be elsewhere for a while).



This does piss me off. It's a free world and if your religion means you can't bake a cake for a gay couple, so be it. Find someone else to bake the cake. No one wins in those situations. You stoke up anti-minority sentiment and if you ever need help from those people, they will tell you to go do one. No one should be able to force someone in that situation and it should never get to court. If a person has a good reason, like religion, then that should be it and people should show some common sense.



Agreed. After much thought, I personally would send a letter, possibly legal (via a solicitor ideally or cc one into the conversation, CAB might be able to help him on that if he is low income) asking for termination of contract and refund of remaining rental fees. Cite harassment which is contrary to the Equality Act (2010). But also that you don't want to go that route and if the other party finds it preferable, he could refund you the remaining months and you will move off the marina. That's the legal bit done. Get the money back and move somewhere else. Hopefully his new neighbours are not bell ends.

Explain to the CRT that he is moving due to harassment but don't expand on that unless they specifically ask. Find another mooring. Move to that mooring.

It sounds like this has been going on for a while, so this isn't going to go away even if the nuclear option is used. You either nip it in the bud early or you deal with it later on when you can't do that. But consequences stack over time. I also know moving is no cake walk, given the limited number of moorings around most towns and cities. but what else can you do.

New post automatically merged: 18th Jun, 2026

Sounds like an intel background. I won't push though, but know people who lived that life and in a couple of cases still do it.

This is really informative and appreciate all of your post. Thankyou.

I've learned a lot from both of you today, thank you.