Double whammy for continuous cruisers and wide beam boat licences
THE Canal & River Trust has today, Thursday, given further details about the increases in boat licence fees.
These will be applied from the 1st April 2024 for boats without a home mooring and for wide beam boats.
Continuous cruisers
Licences for all boats on the trust’s waterways will increase above inflation for each of the next five years, plus 25% on top of that as a surcharge for boats without a home mooring and wide beam boats—a double whammy!
The following licence pricing will be applied, starting from the 1st April 2024 (with the surcharges for boats without a home mooring and for wide beam boats also summarised in the table beneath):
Standard licence fee
All boats will see an above-inflation increase in each of the next five years. This will be determined in November of the preceding year when the latest inflation forecasts are available from the Bank of England i.e. the increase to be applied from April 2024 will be announced next month.
Continuous cruisers
Boats without a home mooring will see a total surcharge of 25% applied on top of the standard licence fee. It will be phased in, so that the surcharge in each year is as follows:
April 2023 (existing): Standard licence fee
April 2024: Standard licence fee + 5%
April 2025: Standard licence fee + 10%
April 2026: Standard licence fee + 15%
April 2027: Standard licence fee + 20%
April 2028: Standard licence fee + 25%
Wide beam boats
Wider boats will see an increase to the current surcharge.
Boats 2.16m/7ft 1” – 3.24m/10ft 7½” (Band 2) will see an increase from the existing 10% surcharge to a 25% surcharge. It will be phased in, so that the surcharge in each year is as follows:
April 2023 (existing): Standard licence fee +10%
April 2024: Standard licence fee +13%
April 2025: Standard licence fee +16%
April 2026: Standard licence fee +19%
April 2027: Standard licence fee +22%
April 2028: Standard licence fee +25%
Boats over 3.24m/10ft 7½” (Band 3) will see an increase from the existing 20% surcharge to a 50% surcharge. It will be phased in, so that the surcharge in each year is as follows:
April 2023 (existing): Standard licence fee +20%
April 2024: Standard licence fee +26%
April 2025: Standard licence fee +32%
April 2026: Standard licence fee +38%
April 2027: Standard licence fee +44%
April 2028: Standard licence fee +50%
Wide beam without home mooring
Wider boats without a home mooring will see both surcharges combined.
Boats without home moorings over 2.16m/7ft 1” – 3.24m/10ft 7½” (Band 2) will see an increase from the existing 10% surcharge to a 50% surcharge. It will be phased in, so that the surcharge in each year is as follows:
April 2023 (existing): Standard licence fee +10%
April 2024: Standard licence fee +18%
April 2025: Standard licence fee +26%
April 2026: Standard licence fee +34%
April 2027: Standard licence fee +42%
April 2028: Standard licence fee +50%
Boats without home moorings over 3.24m/10ft 7½” (Band 3) will see an increase from the existing 20% surcharge to a 75% surcharge. It will be phased in, so that the surcharge in each year is as follows:
April 2023 (existing): Standard licence fee +20%
April 2024: Standard licence fee +31%
April 2025: Standard licence fee +42%
April 2026: Standard licence fee +53%
April 2027: Standard licence fee +64%
April 2028: Standard licence fee +75%
Prompt and online payment
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%.