My Floating Home

Metal worker John Lloyd search for his own, affordable home has led him to floating homes on the Medway in Kent. John has spent almost all of his funds on a boat that is going to need a lot of work, from rotting timber to a total refurb. His father Pete helps out, as their combined skills with repurposing and reclaiming prove that almost anything is possible.

Retired customs officer Keith has been living and working in New Zealand for 25 years. Now, he wants to return to the UK for part of the year and go touring the waterways of the UK with his wife Pam. He's commissioning a brand-spanking-new semi-cruiser narrowboat complete with all the latest gadgets. However, Keith has never owned a boat before, let alone skippered or crewed a narrowboat, so he needs to learn very quickly.

Mark Evans follows Heike and Torsten Birke on an adventure designing and building a novel floating home - from the factory in Havelberg to testing it out on the German waterways.

Londoners Lily and Natasha are in their mid-twenties and keen to get onto the property ladder. Currently renting a one-bed flat in east London, they have impulsively decided to buy a 35-year-old narrowboat at a knock-down price that needs considerable work. They are determined to save money and do all the work themselves, but it's a significant challenge as neither has any experience of fixing up - or living on - a boat, let alone any knowledge of plumbing, electrics, fabrication work or anything renovation-relevant.