Zack Polanski last night faced calls to answer questions about where he should have been paying council tax.
The Daily Mail has established that the Green Party leader was registered on the electoral roll at a building in a marina in east London where he kept a narrowboat.
Mr Polanski had post delivered to the same marina building and regularly, over a number of years, had laundry collected from the canal barge he shared with his partner, Richie Bryan.
The narrowboat was recently advertised for sale for £100,000 – but the notice was pulled after Mr Polanski’s council tax arrangements were questioned this week.
Mr Polanski, 43, maintains he only stayed on the boat occasionally, despite Mr Bryan referring to it as their ‘amazing home’ over the past three years in the advert.
The Greens last night declined to answer questions about where he was living last year and whether he paid council tax on the boat, only saying: ‘Zack’s council tax is included in the rent he pays.’
But the Conservatives will today write to the Green leader demanding he answer ‘public interest questions on your council tax payments’.
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘The statements issued by the Green Party appear contradictory, and there are questions on whether the correct level of council tax has been paid.’
The Daily Mail has established that the Green Party leader was registered on the electoral roll at a building in a marina in east London where he kept a narrowboat
The narrowboat was recently advertised for sale for £100,000 – but the notice was pulled after Mr Polanski’s council tax arrangements were questioned this week
Government guidance suggests that council tax may be payable if a boat is a person’s ‘sole or main residence’ and would therefore be ‘treated as a dwelling’.
Public records show that in 2025 Mr Polanski and Mr Bryan were registered on the electoral roll at an address in the marina where the narrowboat was kept. His partner was also on the roll there in 2024.
The Lee Valley Authority, which owns the address, last night confirmed the Green leader had not rented the bungalow property at the water’s edge. The authority said a member of staff had moved into the property in July 2025 and had discovered that ‘a handful of’ berth holders had ‘used the address for post’.
The electoral roll shows that in 2025, ten people, including Mr Polanski, were registered there.
The authority said that when the member of staff living at the address contacted the council to register for the electoral roll, anyone else was removed.
The narrowboat was recently advertised for sale, with the since-deleted advert posted saying it ‘has been our amazing home in the peace and quiet on the River Lea for three years’.
The ad, seen by the Daily Mail, stated that mooring fees are more than £750 per month and added: ‘We are moving to a house and so will sadly be leaving the gorgeous community behind.’
Tax expert Dan Neidle, from Tax Policy Associates, said: ‘If what he wrote here was true, then it seems he should have been paying council tax.’
Mr Polanski, 43, maintains he only stayed on the boat occasionally, despite Mr Bryan referring to it as their ‘amazing home’ over the past three years in the advert
The marina where the narrowboat is located is for leisure moorings only and vessels are kept there under ‘non-residential agreements’, with owners required to provide proof of a home address.
Meanwhile a local launderette owner said he had collected Mr Polanski and Mr Bryan’s laundry from their narrowboat every two to three weeks for the past three years.
Mr Polanski recently told The Sunday Times that he and Mr Bryan rented a flat in Hackney.
On his register of interests for the London Assembly, the Green leader declares that either he or his partner ‘alone or jointly’ has a ‘mooring in London’.
A Green Party spokesman said: ‘Zack’s council tax is included in the rent he pays his landlord. We don’t comment on Zack’s residential arrangements for security reasons.’
They added that Mr Polanski’s main residence is where he rents and the marina is for leisure moorings, so he can only be there occasionally.
