Reading's luxury apartment that floats on the River Thames

Mr Luke considered living in a houseboat when work started on his house which would last 10 months, meaning that he needed to find somewhere else to stay for the duration.

“I looked at several houseboats,” he said. “But found them small, cold, and cramped so floating apartments crossed my mind.”

Mr Luke, who works in tech, now lives with his dog Molly on “Astro” which floats on the River Thames and can be seen from Caversham Bridge.

From the outside, the floating apartment appears both modern and luxurious with panelled wood and floor-to-ceiling windows.

The apartment has two large bedrooms, a bathroom, a living space with a sofa, a coffee table, a dining table, an L-shaped kitchen, and three outside deck areas.

“Everything is compact, but it’s effectively a luxury two-bed apartment,” he said. “Both bedrooms can fit king-sized beds that you can walk all the way around.

“Instead of a double bed shoved into the corner that you would get on a regular houseboat, I wanted it to be spacious.”

Mr Luke’s kitchen is well equipped with a hob, dishwasher, fridge freezer, and loads of pull-out storage.

“Astro” also sports two decks leading onto the River Thames.

The front deck is very spacious with a covering to shield from the rain and a BBQ. Mr Luke has recently hosted 10 people who were all able to fit comfortably on the deck.

The rear deck can be accessed from the master bedroom and has a swing chair with beautiful views out onto the water.

The bedroom windows are also one-way glass with electric blinds, and Mr Luke said that he often wakes up early, opens the blinds from bed, and watches the sunrise without passing canoes looking in.

The whole roof of “Astro” is also a deck itself with steps leading up from the rear deck.

Mr Luke designed the apartment himself and it was built with help from his now business partner Mr Martin Gonzales, who had been a presenter on Cowboy Builders.

The pair now own Berkshire’s first apartment boat building company together and have had multiple people saying that they want one.

He said: “If I sold my one tomorrow it would cost £175,000, but that’s the higher end of what we can do.

“Our long-term vision is to build floating villages. We currently have a housing crisis and could build on lakes that no one is using for anything.

“We could make something highly ecological where people can rent or buy. We would also make this accessible to everyone.”