CRT boat licence fees: 2013 and beyond 

Canal & River Trust announces boat licence fee increases will be limited to inflation from 2014 for three years.

The Canal & River Trust (CRT) has announced today (16 October) to limit boat licence fee increases for three years from 2014 to inflation.   

The decision was made at the same time as endorsing the third and final year of British Waterways’ planned licence prices which will see licence fees rise from 1 April 2013 by 4.6% (2% above inflation).  

Tony Roome, Chair of the RYA Inland Navigation Panel “In the long term this is good news for boaters. It is a reasonable response to the issue of fees given the financial pressures on both the Canal & River Trust and boaters respectively”.  

Simon Salem, marketing director of the Canal & River Trust, said: “Whilst boaters alone can’t be expected to pay the full cost of looking after the waterways their boats are integral to the appeal of the canals and rivers and therefore to the ability of the Trust to win support from other sources.  

“In making a three year decision to peg licence fees to inflation, we have listened to boaters’ clearly expressed desire for certainty over future fees.  We have also done what we can to limit increases recognising that the number of boats on the waterways has remained static and that boaters face significant financial pressures as part of the wider effects of recession.”  

Go to the Canal & River Trust website for more information on the Trust.