Hackney Settlements is a semi off-grid affordable housing project. The space takes advantage of the community’s rich history of boating and mooring culture. Narrow boaters have long been innovating new ways of living independently to the society around them. Many first adopted the narrow boating lifestyle during the time of post-industrial Britain, when these narrow boats were decommissioned from transporting cargo. The original uptake of narrow boat inhabitants took on this particularly secluded way of living as a means of self-sufficiency in light of a government that had failed them. In 2023, we find ourselves in a situation where the government has failed us once again. These residents have come together to create a community which appropriates the narrow boaters’ self-sufficient mindset. The community includes allotments for residents to grow and trade with the narrowboat dwellers sailing along the River Lea.