With some confusion and a seeming lack of wide alarm at a 5% rising to 25% surcharge on boats without home moorings, CRT’s ‘glide path’, which introduces incremental and differential licence fee pricing between now and 2028, could well be intentionally deceptive.
Firstly; boaters without home moorings will see a first year 5% rise from April 2024 on top of planned increases to the standard licence, which has already risen by 18% in the two years from 2022-24. This year, the fee for a ‘standard licence’ (narrow-boat on a home mooring) rose by 6%. With 5% added, plus an additional penalty for wider boats; the increase this year will see a jump above base rate of 11% for narrowboats without a home mooring, 25% for 10ft wide-beams and 39% for 14ft wide-beams. In year one, many boats will already experience a cost rise above 25%.
Secondly; it is important to understand, the most cautious estimate for narrowboats with home moorings by CPI (consumer price index) estimated at around 4% plus 1.5% for the next five years will see the standard licence rise by 31% in 2028. That’s before any surcharge.
CRT have admitted their aim is to raise revenue from licence fees by an average of CPI plus 3%, however they also decided the bulk of this increase should fall on boats without home moorings and wide-beams in Bands 2 and 3.
With 25% added to the expected 31% standard fee, then factoring inflation and further penalties on wider boats, a narrowboat without a home mooring can expect a minimum fee rise of 61% above base rate by 2028. That’s 97% for a 10ft wide-beam and 130% for a 14ft wide-beam (most likely closest to the CPI +3% average). These figures are minimum estimates.
Previously published tariffs that enabled boaters to budget for price rises have been replaced by online calculators, which individualise and obscure costs. CRT also only gives projections for the next 5 years (2023-2028). They have stated elsewhere that they have a 10-year financial plan. They may continue to increase the percentage from 2028. In 2022, they increased licence fees twice in a year . They could make their own increase larger, and inflation could be more. We have no way of knowing exact CPI figures. CRT uses the government published CPI from November of the previous year, then add an additional % increase, which is currently (in 2024) 1.5% totalling 6% increase for a standard licence in 2024. For estimates, we used 4% CPI plus 1.5% CRT for years 2,3,4 & 5.
If CRT manages to extort the surcharge on boats without home moorings this year, the future looks increasingly unpredictable and financially insecure. As boaters within a smaller community, we have the potential to organise and fight back. This reality check ought to encourage everyone to play their part.
More reasons to be against the surcharge here:
Strike Action is being proposed by the Licence Strike campaign group. If you don’t have a home mooring and you are
interested in a licence strike, you can click here:
interested in a licence strike, you can click here: