Review of private leisure mooring fees

Following an independent assessment, Crown Estate Scotland mooring licence fees are to rise.

Since 2010, annual fees have been set at a flat rate of £80 per mooring for private individuals and £40 per mooring for members of constituted Mooring Associations.  

Crown Estate Scotland has a statutory duty to obtain ‘market value’ as defined in the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019 (‘the Act’) and asked the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to undertake an independent assessment of the mooring licence fee for private individuals and Mooring Association licences. 

The VOA has now completed its work and the outcome of this independent assessment is that mooring fees should increase by a level which is fair and proportionate. The revised fees will be accompanied by amended timings to better align with the sailing season.  

To help with the transition, and considering the cost-of-living crisis, fees will not increase until Spring 2024 and the amended timings means that there will be a three-month period (January to March 2023) when effectively no fees are charged. 

Crown Estate Scotland has considered the findings in the VOA report and has decided to retain a flat fee structure and the 50% discount for members of Mooring Associations, resulting in a fee structure and timings as follows: 

Mooring Association Licence Fee   

Year	Mooring Association Fee (Per Mooring)	Annual Due Date	Annual Payment Date
2023-24	£40 (No Change)	1 April 2023	1 July 2023
2024-25	£55	1 April 2024	1 July 2024

Private Individual Mooring Licence Fee   

Year	Private Licence Fee (Per Mooring)	Annual Due Date	Annual Payment Date
2023-24	£80 (No Change)	1 April 2023	1 April 2023
2024-25	£110	1 April 2024	1 April 2024

Future fee reviews will continue to be undertaken on a five-yearly cycle, beginning 1 April 2030 and to provide greater certainty, these will alternate between index-linked reviews and market value assessments. 

 The VOA report can be found here. 

Crown Estate Scotland continues to support the marine leisure sector, most recently with a funding contribution to work being led by British Marine Scotland for a its ‘Sailing in Scotland’ study and further work developing the Scotland Marine Tourism Strategy “Giant Strides 2020-25”.  