The Canal & River Trust has confirmed it is to increase boat licence fees above inflation for the next five years from 1 April 2024.
Surcharges for boats without a home mooring and wide beam boats will be applied in addition to that.
The standard licence fee will be determined in November of the preceding year when the latest inflation forecasts are available from the Bank of England.
Boats without a home mooring will see a total surcharge of 25% applied on top of the standard licence fee to be phased in over five years.
Wider boats will see an increase to the current surcharge with boats in Band two seeing an increase from the existing 10% surcharge to a 25% surcharge that will again be phased in.
Boats in Band three will see a phased in increase from the existing 20% surcharge to a 50% surcharge that will be imposed in April 2028.
Surcharge
Wider boats without a home mooring will see both surcharges combined which will lead to a 75% surcharge by April 2028.
There will be a reduction of the prompt payment discount from 2.5% to 2% and a reduction in the online payment discount from 2.5% to 0.5%.
The boat licence fee accounts for 11% of the Trust’s revenue, which says that increases will help towards the cost of looking after the canal network.
The Trust is also predicting that its fundraising income will grow by 10% each year – whilst other commercial waterways income, including from anglers, paddle sports and moorings, is also set to increase.
