Crown Estate profits remain at record high but windfarm boost set to fall back

Glasgow Times

a day ago

The latest annual figures from The Crown Estate, which oversees the royal family's land and property holdings, revealed earnings stayed at the all-time high of £1.1 billion for the second year in a row.
This has helped bring returns to the Treasury to £5 billion over the past decade.
Crown Estate profits are used to determine the Sovereign Grant for the royal family, headed by the King (Chris Jackson/PA)
The Crown Estate is run as an independent business, but its profits are paid directly to the Treasury, which then hands on a small portion of the money to the monarchy, known as the Sovereign Grant, which supports the official duties of the royal family.
Earnings have spiked to record levels in the past two years thanks to option fees – payments made by companies to reserve a patch of the seabed to eventually build their wind turbines on.
But The Crown Estate said the so-called option fee uplift is expected to drop back significantly in the current financial year – down from £1.07 billion in 2024/25 to around £25 million a year from January 2026 as projects move into the construction phase.
This will see the net revenue profit 'normalise', according to The Crown Estate.
But it said underlying profits, stripping out the option fee boost, stood at £366 million in the year to the end of March and would continue to grow.
The Crown Estate owns the vast majority of Britain's seabed, stretching up to 12 nautical miles from the mainland, and leases part of it to wind farm operators.
It also has a 180,000-acre property holding across the UK, including much of London's Regent Street and St James's, and large swathes of arable land and forestry.
Dan Labbad, chief executive at The Crown Estate, said it had been a 'landmark year' for collection, but flagged a difficult backdrop in the wider economy.
He said: 'This year's results are set against significant global economic disturbance.
'This affects the UK and Crown Estate just as it affects countries and businesses.
'This has made for a more challenging period.'
The results showed the value of The Crown Estate's land and assets was £15 billion in 2024/25, down from £15.5 billion the previous year.
The drop came after gains in its urban and rural businesses were offset by a £1 billion fall in the valuation of its marine assets.
It said the valuation of the marine portfolio had jumped higher in anticipation of option fees, but that it reduced as this income was recognised, falling back to £3.4 billion from £4.4 billion in 2023/24.
The figures come after the new Crown Estate Bill was passed earlier this year, handing it more powers to invest and borrow.
The Treasury has said the changes will allow The Crown Estate to invest more in green energy and help the UK achieve net zero.
Recent investments by The Crown Estate include a joint venture announced in May with Lendlease for housing and science and innovation space across six projects.
It said this has the potential to deliver 100,000 jobs, 26,000 homes and have an overall value of up to £24 billion.
Mr Labbad said: 'Thanks to new legislation, we now have greater flexibility to invest across our portfolio, increasing our resilience and potential, and enabling us to create lasting benefits for the country and its finances.'
The Crown Estate owns the vast majority of Britain's seabed, stretching up to 12 nautical miles from the mainland (Yui Mok/PA)
Under previous rules, The Crown Estate could not use its cash reserves to invest because it had to hold them against the prospect of future financial losses.
But greater ability to borrow will see it invest more in offshore wind.
The Government has also committed to doubling its onshore wind capacity by 2030 and Mr Labbad said The Crown Estate was reviewing its land portfolio to see if more onshore wind projects could be 'viable and relevant'.
It will report back later in 2025.