Statistics show that in the United States, one in 301 residents of the country owns a houseboat, in Holland – even one in 177, and in Russia — only one in 732,123. However, experts have no doubt: in the next two to three years, the domestic houseboat market will take off. Which can become vertical if it is possible to rebuild the “launch pad”
As the statistics say, which in a conversation with BFM.ru brought by the president of the company for the production of innovative houseboats Houseboat.ru Alexander Klimchuk, houseboats (houseboats combining a comfortable apartment, a country cottage and a small vessel) have been in a very narrow niche in Russia for a long time, but with the onset of the pandemic they began to gain popularity: compared to 2020, their number has doubled, and now there are about 200 units in the Moscow region alone. “And the potential of the segment is huge, given the water expanses of our country: after all, there are over 2 million lakes on its territory with a total area of more than 350 thousand square kilometers and more than 2.5 million rivers with a total length of 8 million kilometers,” the expert recalls.
For comparison: according to his estimates, today there are about 1 million houseboats on the American market, about 100 thousand in Holland (2.5 thousand are based in Amsterdam alone), over 15 thousand people live on the water in the UK, more than 3 thousand in Paris and so on. That is, according to the data shared with the portal by Denis Konovalenko, managing partner of Prime Life development, approximately every 301st resident of the country has a houseboat in the USA, every 177th in Holland, and every 732,123 in our country (it’s not even clear how to pronounce it correctly).
Meanwhile, according to Marina Egorova, architect, founder and head of the Empate architectural bureau, houseboats are a profitable thing. Moreover, it is profitable both from the point of view of the business and from the point of view of the user.
Marina Egorova architect, founder and head of the Empate architectural bureau “First of all, you do not need to buy or rent land for the construction of a houseboat. The owner pays for electricity and water supply, but not for his right to occupy a particular piece of water. Another question is, if the water area where you want to place a houseboat is leased from the state by someone, then this enterprising someone will have to pay for mooring. Further: houseboats, if they are located in a well-equipped marina, can bring in good money, especially during the periods of regattas or some business events. It is important to note that the development of marinas in our country is still only an emerging trend, and not always places for houseboats are laid in projected marinas, which is actually a serious omission. Abroad, the infrastructure of marinas always includes houseboats. And finally: a houseboat, as something typologically intermediate between a hotel on land and just a boat, is at the same time more comfortable than a conventional watercraft with cabins and cheaper than a hotel room.”
So why are we slowing down? The fact that the Russian houseboat market itself is young and began to develop only a few years ago is only one of the reasons for our serious lag behind the United States, Great Britain, Holland and other countries. As Marina Egorova emphasizes, “there is no such thing as a houseboat in Russian legislation — with all the consequences. And the owners of houseboats have to go to all sorts of tricks when registering such real estate, for example, to register it as a boathouse.”
Indeed, “in Russia, depending on the tasks, houseboats are registered either with the State Inspectorate for Small Vessels (GIMS) — it oversees their use on water bodies, or with the Russian Classification Society (RKO), which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport. The engineering systems on the houseboat are autonomous, installed within the framework of Russian legislation,” Alexander Klimchuk specifies.
Alexander Kazakov, project manager at Ziggurat Development, cites several other reasons why the development of the houseboat segment in Russia is slower than it could be.
Alexander Kazakov, project manager at Ziggurat Development, “Not everyone has the opportunity to access access to suitable reservoirs. And the existing infrastructure where houseboats can be stored and maintained is mostly occupied by boats and yachts. Therefore, a lot depends on the desire of developers to integrate solutions for the maintenance of such a housing format into their suburban projects. And the second point: as with all new products, people first need to understand what living in a houseboat is, what opportunities you have and what impressions you can get. Therefore, resort facilities that provide houseboats for rent are very necessary — they will be an excellent platform for obtaining such an experience.”
As Marina Egorova notes, the houseboat market in our country, although it exists, is not too developed, since there is no normal infrastructure for this business. And more: “Companies that are engaged in the construction of such facilities are trying, of course, but their quality level is far from ideal — I’m talking about appearance, constructive and so on. After all, a houseboat is a house on the water, not a vehicle, and an architect should participate in its design one way or another,” the expert is sure.
Here, however, both Alexander Klimchuk and Denis Konovalenko are ready to argue — in the sense of the quality level of our manufacturers. “The model range of houseboats is constantly being improved, based, among other things, on the climatic conditions of our country: good insulation is provided, the ability to be afloat in ice, high strength, as well as a small draft,” Denis Konovalenko begins to bend his fingers.
“About ten houseboat manufacturing companies are currently operating on the Russian market. But all of them provide an inexpensive product for seasonal use — you can live on them only in the warmer months. Although there are energy—efficient houseboats with a hull made of marine steel in this series that are capable of freezing into ice: you can comfortably live in them all year round, they consist of 85% domestic components, and today they have no analogues in the world,” Alexander Klimchuk continues.
Denis Konovalenko, managing partner of Prime Life development, “The advantages of houseboats include high ceilings, high-quality eco-friendly materials that are non-flammable and safe, energy efficiency of the facility, its mobility and intimacy, as well as comfortable capacity, autonomy, multiple options for functional zoning of space and the possibility of year-round living. However, with all the advantages, customers still prefer classic real estate. And such a housing format as houseboats is most in demand as a second home: you can travel in it, lead an active lifestyle with, for example, fishing or hunting, as well as use such real estate as an office. The exact budget will be formed based on the area, the internal filling of the house on the water, as well as the materials used. The most budget option is from 5 million rubles, but it is important to add the cost of maintaining the facility to the purchase price: maintenance, parking, tax burden, and so on.”
Alexander Klimchuk also shared his calculations: according to them, the cost of a high—quality premium houseboat is comparable to the cost of a new economy class building – about 400 thousand rubles per square meter (depending on the configuration). The cost of parking depends on the size of the houseboat and yacht club: on average, about 30 thousand rubles per month, including electricity. Maintenance will cost from 20 thousand to 40 thousand rubles per year.
According to the observations of the interlocutor BFM.ru So far, houseboats are in demand to a greater extent in Moscow and the Moscow region. “But orders are increasingly coming from regions with large waterways, including St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, Tatarstan, Altai, and Karelia. For example, three of Russia’s first floating hotels, which are moored on the uninhabited islands of the Ladoga skerries, and a floating two-storey spa center with an area of 350 square meters, which is moored in Kazan, have recently been transferred to customers,” says Alexander Klimchuk.
Alexander Klimchuk, President of the company for the production of innovative houseboats Houseboat.ru “Now the main customers of houseboats are small business owners and top managers of medium—sized businesses. They mainly pursue commercial purposes: they use houseboats as hotels, offices, restaurants or saunas. But increasingly, people are ordering houseboats as their main home or a summer cottage option for year-round living. Over the past year alone, the world’s largest marine houseboat with an area of 600 square meters and the largest modern river houseboat in Europe with an area of about 500 square meters have been built in Moscow for permanent residence. In addition, houseboats are already considered a profitable investment. This type of housing can be rented out six to seven times more expensive than an apartment of similar size and cost. Since this is an exclusive housing, accordingly, the payback period for investments in houseboats is much shorter. In the future, the demand for such houses will only grow, and houseboats can successfully expand the range of offers of the suburban resort and recreational segment and support the development of domestic tourism. And even in winter.”
According to experts, the avalanche demand for houseboats in Russia will begin in the next two to three years. “By 2025, a shipyard for 130 jobs for the production of houseboats will be built in the Moscow region. Investments in this large-scale project will amount to 1.5 billion rubles. It is planned to produce up to 400 houseboats per year. Such an agreement was signed at the SPIEF site by PC Housbot and the government of the Moscow Region. Now a site is being selected for the construction of the shipyard,” Alexander Klimchuk shares his plans.
According to him, in order for everything to go even more cheerfully, first of all, infrastructure, the construction of marinas, the creation of settlements on the water are required. And, of course, it is necessary to introduce mortgage lending for houseboats, then they will become more accessible to a number of categories of citizens.
“As for legislative initiatives, it would be possible to make appropriate changes to the Water Code. For example, a water use agreement for tourist infrastructure or houseboat settlements should be concluded on a non-competitive basis. Now only contracts for beaches, sports and children’s locations are concluded in this way, the rest is based only on a competition,” Alexander Klimchuk suggests.
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